S—r-p 
I 


STUDIES    FROM    COURT  AND 
CLOISTER 


Photo  by 


Emery  Walker. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  (Daughter  of  Henry  VII.,  and  Queen  of 

James  IV.  of  Scotland). 
From  a  Portrait  by  Van  Orley  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


[frontispiece. 


STUDIES  FROM  COURT 
'  'AND  CLOISTER  . 


BEING   ESSAYS,   HISTORICAL   AND    LITERARY, 

DEALING  MAINLY  WITH  SUBJECTS  RELATING 

TO  THE  XVITH  AND  XVIITH  CENTURIES 


BY  J.    M.    STONE 


AUTHOR   OF 

MARY    THE    FIRST,    QUEEN    OF    ENGLAND,"      "REFORMATION    AND    RENAISSANCE, 

ETC. 


SANDS    &    CO. 

EDINBURGH:    13   BANK   STREET 

LONDON:    23   BEDFORD  STREET,   STRAND 

1905 


TO 


IN   HONOUR   OF 
A   LONG  AND   LOYAL   FRIENDSHIP 


PREFACE 

THESE  studies  on  various  crucial  points  connected  with  the 
history  of  religion  in  Europe  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
its  decline,  revival,  and  the  causes  which  led  to  both,  have 
already  appeared  in  print  as  regards  their  general  outline, 
although  they  have  for  the  most  part  been  rewritten,  added  to, 
and  in  each  case  subjected  to  a  careful  revision. 

Three  of  them  were  originally  published  in  the  Dublin 
Review,  four  in  the  Scottish  Review,  two  in  BlackwoocPs 
Magazine,  and  three  in  the  Month.  One  was  a  contribution  to 
the  American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review.  By  the  courtesy  of 
the  respective  editors  of  these  publications  I  am  enabled  to 
gather  them  together  in  this  volume. 

It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  a  certain  cohesion,  historical 
and  chronological,  exists  in  their  present  arrangement,  especially 
with  reference  to  Part  I. 

The  two  first  studies  concern  Henry  VIII.  and  his  sister  the 
Queen  of  Scots,  the  significance  of  their  matrimonial  affairs,  and 
the  relations  which  their  policy  created  between  England, 
Scotland,  France,  and  the  Empire.  The  third  study  has  for  its 
subject  the  distinguished  and  much-maligned  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower  of  London,  who  contributed  so  largely  to  the  accession 
of  the  rightful  sovereign,  and  who  was  appointed  to  be  governor 
of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  during  her  captivity  at  Woodstock. 
His  subsequent  persecution  for  the  sake  of  religion  was  the 


viii  PREFACE 

consequence  of  Henry  VHIth's  rupture  with  Rome,  and 
Elizabeth's  repudiation  of  England's  Catholic  past  And  as  we 
can  only  gain  an  intelligible  view  of  any  historical  movement  by 
studying  its  context,  its  broad  outlines,  and  its  connection  with 
foreign  nations,  the  fourth  essay  describes  the  condition  to  which 
the  religious  revolution  had  reduced  Germany  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  the  reconversion  of  a  great  part  of  that  country,  as 
well  as  of  Austria  and  Switzerland,  to  the  Catholic  faith.  This 
was  the  work  of  the  Jesuit,  Peter  Canisius,  and  we  are  thus  led 
to  a  consideration  of  the  newly-founded  Society  of  Jesus  and  its 
methods.  Its  members  soon  became  noted  for  sanctity  and 
learning,  and  emperors,  kings,  and  royal  princes  clamoured  for 
Jesuits  as  confessors.  The  manner  in  which  these  acquitted 
themselves  of  the  difficult  and  unwelcome  task  imposed  on  them, 
is  unconsciously  revealed  by  themselves,  in  the  private  corre- 
spondence of  members  of  the  old  Society,  which  has  now  been 
given  to  the  world  by  one  of  their  Order.  Selections  from  this 
correspondence  are  contained  in  the  fifth  study.  As  a  further 
result  of  the  revolution  that  had  been  effected  in  the  casting  off" 
of  old  beliefs  and  traditions,  we  note  the  revival  of  Pantheism, 
an  ancient,  atheistic  philosophy,  whose  modern  apostle  was  the 
celebrated  Giordano  Bruno.  His  otherwise  fruitless  visit  to 
England  left  a  deep  impression  on  certain  minds,  learned  and 
ignorant,  and  we  begin  for  the  first  time  to  hear  of  examinations 
and  prosecutions  for  atheism  in  this  country.  And  this  forms 
the  subject  of  the  sixth  essay.  The  recoil  that  invariably  takes 
place  after  any  great  political,  social,  or  religious  upheaval  was 
not  wanting  to  the  Reformation  in  England,  and,  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.  High-Churchism,  under  Archbishop  Laud,  was  thought 
to  indicate  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  royalists  for  a  return  to 
Catholic  unity.  A  Papal  agent  was  dispatched  to  England  to 
negotiate  between  the  Catholic  Queen,  Henrietta  Maria  and 
Cardinal  Barberini,  with  a  view  to  the  conversion  of  her 
husband,  which  would,  it  was  hoped,  ultimately  issue  in  the 
corporate  reunion  of  the  country  with  Rome. 


PREFACE  ix 

Thus,  Part  I.  deals  with  some  of  the  persons  who  had  "  their 
exits  and  their  entrances,"  who  made  history  during  this 
interesting  period.  Part  II.  treats  more  especially  of  the 
books  and  manuscripts  connected  with  it.  The  theme  is 
therefore  the  same. 

Even  before  England  was  England,  she  was  the  Isle  of 
Saints,  and  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  religion  was  her  chief 
care,  in  a  manner  almost  incredible  in  this  secular  and  material- 
istic age.  She  not  only  covered  the  land  with  magnificent 
churches  and  cathedrals,  to  the  architecture  of  which  we  cannot 
in  these  days  approach,  even  by  imitation,  distantly,  but  she 
also  built  huge  monasteries,  and  these  monasteries  were  the 
cradles,  the  homes  of  vast  stores  of  ever-accumulating  know- 
ledge. A  system  of  philosophy,  to  which  the  world  is  even  now 
returning,  recognising  that  there  is  no  better  training  for  the 
human  intellect,  is  so  distinctly  mediaeval,  that  all  that  savoured 
even  remotely  of  St  Thomas  Aquinas  or  Duns  Scotus  in  the 
University  was  utterly  destroyed  in  a  great  bonfire  made  at 
Oxford  in  1549.  At  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  by 
Henry  VIII.,  the  labour,  the  learning,  the  genius  of  centuries 
were  as  nought.  Exquisitely  written  and  illuminated  Bibles, 
missals  and  other  choice  manuscripts,  displaying  a  wealth  of 
palaeographic  art  to  which  we  have  lost  the  key,  were  torn  from 
their  jewelled  bindings,  and  were  either  thrown  aside  to  spoil 
and  rot,  or  to  become  the  prey  of  any  who  needed  wrappers  for 
small  merchandise.  It  is  a  marvel  that  so  many  should  have 
escaped  destruction,  to  be  collected  when  men  had  returned  to 
their  sane  senses,  and  formed  again  into  libraries  for  the 
delight  and  instruction  of  posterity  to  the  end  of  time.  And 
almost  as  strange  as  this  circumstance,  is  the  fact  that  so  few 
among  us  know  of  the  existence  of  these  treasures  which  have 
become  our  national  inheritance.  Otherwise,  how  could  the 
reviewer  of  one  of  our  foremost  literary  publications,  in  his 
notice  of  the  exhibition  of  mediaeval  needlework  at  the 
Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club,  in  the  spring  of  1905,  have 


x  PREFACE 

discovered  in  it  a  surprising  revelation  of  the  "  refinement "  of 
the  Middle  Ages? 

The  three  last  studies  in  the  present  volume  are,  therefore, 
devoted  to  a  description  of  some  of  the  precious  spoils  of 
mediaeval  refinement.  Where  all  is  so  splendidly  beautiful,  so 
deeply  erudite,  or  so  tenderly  naif,  choice  is  difficult ;  but  at  all 
events,  here  are  a  few  of  the  priceless  gems  with  which  the  Dark 
Ages  have  endowed  a  scornful  after-world. 

And  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  all  this  mediaeval  piety 
and  devotion  sprang  up  suddenly,  with  no  apparent  raison  d'etre, 
I  have  gone  further  back,  and  have  shown  that  with  the  first  dawn 
of  Christianity  over  these  Islands,  religion  was  no  other  than  in 
the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries.  The  Arthurian 
legends,  which  Sir  Thomas  Malory  wove  into  one  consecutive 
whole,  had  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  for 
many  hundreds  of  years.  Sometimes  they  had  been  written  in 
the  French  language,  but  they  lived  in  the  minds  of  the  people, 
and  Sir  Lancelot,  who  died  "  a  holy  man,"  was  as  vivid  and  real 
to  them  as  was  Richard,  the  troubadour  king.  With  the  story 
of  his  sharp  penance,  his  fasting  and  prayers  for  the  soul  of 
Guinevere,  was  also  handed  down  incidentally  the  tradition  of 
Britain's  obedience  to  the  "  Apostle  Pope." 

Some  time  after  the  Anglo-Saxon  conquest,  in  the  eighth 
century,  was  set  up  a  wonderful  churchyard  Cross  at  Ruthwell 
in  Scotland,  a  "  folk-book  in  stone,"  alluded  to  in  the  Act  passed 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  1642, 
"anent  the  Idolatrous  Monuments  in  Ruthwell,"  and  already 
two  years  previously  condemned  by  that  enlightened  body  to 
be  "  taken  down,  demolished,  and  destroyed."  The  story  of  this 
ancient  Cross,  and  that  of  the  runes  carved  upon  it,  form  the 
subject  of  the  opening  study  of  Part  II. 

Little  need  be  said  here  of  Foxe,  the  great  calumniator  of 
Queen  Mary's  bishops.  His  book,  which  so  long  deceived  the 
world,  is  no  more  the  power  it  once  was,  but  in  it  lay  the 
venom  which  poisoned  the  wells,  as  far  as  the  ill-fated  reign  of 


PREFACE  xi 

Mary  was  concerned ;  and  the  essay  which  deals  with  it  could 
scarcely  have  been  omitted. 

In  the  hope  that  I  have  been  enabled  to  throw  a  faint  ray  of 
additional  light  on  some  vexed  but  interesting  questions,  this 
volume  is  put  forward. 

J.  M.  S. 


September  1905. 


CONTENTS 

PART   I 

CHAP.  PAOE 

I.  MARGARET  TUDOR          ......  3 

II.  NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW            .....  35 

III.  A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN          .....  52 

IV.  THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY  ...  95 
V.  JESUITS  AT  COURT         .          .          .           .          .           .131 

VI.  GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND          .  .  .  .158 

VII.  CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT            .           .  178 

PART   II 

I.  THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA        .          .           .  207 

II.  A  MISSING  PAGE  FROM  THE  "IDYLLS  OF  THE  KING"        .  223 

III.  FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS         .....  250 

IV.  THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES     ....  277 
V.  THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY     ......  309 

VI.  THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS        .           .  335 

INDEX       ....,,,,  369 


XiH 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


MARGARET  TUDOR,  Daughter  of  Henry  VII.,  and  Queen 
of  James  IV.  of  Scotland  (from  a  Portrait  by  Van 
Orley,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery)  .  Frontispiece 

ANNE  OF  CLEVES,  Fourth  Wife  of  Henry  VIII.  (from  a 

Portrait  by  Hans  Holbein,  in  the  Louvre)      .  To  face  page  35 

KATHARINE  HOWARD,  Fifth  Wife  of  Henry  VIII.  (from 

a  Portrait  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery)  .  „  „        42 

SIR    HENRY   BEDINGFELD,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  of 

London  (from  a  Portrait  at  Oxburgh)  .  „  „         52 

SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH  (from  a  Portrait  by  F.  Zucharo, 

in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery)          .  „  „       164 

THE  RUTHWELL  CROSS  IN  ITS  PRESENT  CONDITION 

(from  a  Photograph)        .  .  .  .  „  „       207 

SIR   ROBERT  COTTON  (from  a  Portrait  by  Thornhill,  in 

the  National  Portrait  Gallery)  ...  „  „       277 

HENRY,  PRINCE  OF  WALES,  Eldest  Son  of  James  I. 
(from  a  Portrait  by  Van  Somers,  in  the  National 
Portrait  Gallery)  ....  „  „  309 


PART   I 


STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND 
CLOISTER 


MARGARET   TUDOR 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  spy-system  which  was  brought  to 
so  great  a  perfection  under  the  Tudors,  the  study  of  human 
nature  was  in  their  days  yet  in  its  infancy.  The  world  had 
long  ceased  to  be  ingenuous,  but  nations  had  not  yet  learned 
civilised  methods  of  guarding  themselves  against  their 
enemies.  At  a  time  when  distrust  was  general,  it  was  easier, 
like  Machiavelli,  to  erect  deceit  and  fraud  into  a  science, 
and  to  teach  the  vile  utility  of  lying,  than  to  scrutinise 
character  and  weigh  motives.  It  was  then  generally  under- 
stood that  opponents  might  legitimately  be  hoodwinked  to 
the  limits  of  their  gullibility ;  but  it  was  reserved  for  Lord 
Chesterfield,  two  centuries  later,  to  show  how  a  man's  passions 
must  be  studied  with  microscopic  intensity  in  order  to 
discover  his  prevailing  passion,  and  how,  that  passion  once 
discovered,  he  should  never  be  trusted  where  it  was  concerned. 
The  study  of  men's  characters  and  motives  as  we  understand 
it,  formed  no  part  of  the  policy  of  sixteenth-century  statecraft, 
or  Wolsey  would  not  have  been  disgraced,  or  Thomas 
Cromwell's  head  have  fallen  on  the  block.  Wolsey  and 
Cromwell  were  the  subtlest  statesmen  of  their  age;  indeed, 

in   them   statecraft  may  be   said  to  have  had  its   dawn;  yet 

s 


4  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Henry  VIII.,  by  the  sheer  force  of  his  tyranny  and  despotic 
will,  baffled  them  both.  While  Cromwell,  the  greatest  genius 
in  Europe,  thought  he  held  all  the  threads  of  intrigue  in  his 
own  hands,  his  royal  master  by  the  dogged  pursuit  of  one 
end  overthrew  the  minister's  entire  scheme.  Saturated 
though  he  was  with  Machiavellian  theories,  a  man  of  one 
book,  and  that  book  The  Prince,  Cromwell  lost  all  by  his 
inability  to  read  the  bent  of  Henry's  mind  and  purpose. 

Henry  VIII.  and  his  elder  sister,  Margaret,  were  strik- 
ingly alike  in  character.  Both  proved  themselves  to  be  cruel, 
vindictive,  unscrupulous,  sensual,  and  vain.  Both  were 
extraordinarily  clever,  but  Henry  being  far  better  educated 
than  his  sister,  contrived  to  cut  a  much  more  imposing,  if 
not  a  more  dignified,  figure.  In  the  matter  of  intrigue,  there 
was  nothing  to  choose  between  them.  That  Henry  succeeded 
where  Margaret  failed,  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  circum- 
stances were  in  his  favour  and  not  in  hers.  Given  two  such 
characters,  the  only  parts  that  were  possible  to  them  were 
dominating  ones.  Henry  was  master  of  the  situation  all 
through  the  piece ;  Margaret  was  not,  but  she  could  play  no 
other  part.  Had  she  been  differently  constituted,  had  she 
been  barely  honest,  true,  constant,  and  pure,  there  is  no 
limit  to  the  love  and  loyalty  she  would  certainly  have 
inspired. 

But,  for  want  of  insight  into  Margaret  Tudor's  disposition, 
the  Scottish  people  were  repeatedly  betrayed  by  one  whose 
interests  they  fondly  hoped  had  become,  by  marriage  with 
their  king,  identical  with  their  own.  She  had  come  among 
them  at  an  age  when  new  impressions  are  quickly  taken  and 
experiences  of  every  kind  have  necessarily  been  very  limited, 
but  to  the  end  of  her  days  she  remained  an  alien  in  their 
midst 

From  the  moment  that  she  set  foot  in  Scotland,  as  a 
bride  of  thirteen,  she  began  to  sow  discord ;  but  although 
it  was  soon  apparent  that  she  would  seize  every  occasion  to 


MARGARET  tubott  5 

turn  public  events  to  her  own  profit,  James  IV.  had  so 
mistaken  a  belief  in  her  one  day  becoming  a  good  Scots- 
woman, that  when  he  went  to  his  death  on  Flodden  Field, 
he  left  the  whole  welfare  of  his  country  in  her  hands.  Not 
only  did  he  confide  the  treasure  of  the  realm  to  her 
custody,  but  by  his  will  he  appointed  her  to  the  Regency, 
with  the  sole  guardianship  of  his  infant  son. 

Such  a  thing  was  unprecedented  in  Scotland,  and  it 
needed  all  the  fidelity  of  the  Scottish  lords  to  their  chivalrous 
sovereign,  as  well  as  their  enthusiasm  for  his  young  and 
beautiful  widow,  to  induce  them  to  tolerate  an  arrangement 
so  distasteful  to  them  all.  Had  Margaret  cared  to  fit  herself 
for  the  duties  that  lay  before  her,  her  lot  might  have  been 
a  brilliant  one.  Instead  of  the  wretched  wars  which  made  a 
perpetual  wilderness  of  the  Borders,  keeping  the  nation  in  a 
constant  state  of  ferment,  an  advantageous  treaty  would  have 
secured  prosperity  to  both  England  and  Scotland,  while  the 
various  disturbing  factions,  which  rendered  Scotland  so 
difficult  to  govern  by  main  force,  would  gradually  have 
subsided  under  the  gentle  influence  of  a  queen  who  united 
all  parties  through  the  loyalty  she  inspired.  Fierce  and 
rebellious  as  were  so  many  of  the  elements  which  went  to 
make  up  the  Scottish  people  at  that  time,  Margaret  had  a 
far  easier  task  than  her  grand-daughter,  Mary  Stuart,  for  at 
least  fanatical  religious  differences  did  not  enter  into  the 
difficulties  she  had  to  encounter.  But  such  a  queen  of 
Scotland  as  would  have  claimed  the  respect  and  won  the 
lasting  love  of  her  subjects  was  by  no  means  the  Margaret 
Tudor  of  history,  as  she  stands  revealed  in  her  corre- 
spondence. 

While  James  IV.  lived  she  had  comparatively  few  oppor- 
tunities of  betraying  State  secrets,  but  from  the  disaster  of 
Flodden  to  her  death,  her  history  is  one  long  series  of 
intrigues,  the  outcome  of  her  ruling  passions — vanity  and 
greed.  Her  first  short-sighted  act  of  treachery  after  the 


6  STUDIES  FkOM  COURT  AKt>  CLOISTER 

death  of  James  was  to  appropriate  to  her  own  use  the 
treasure  which  he  had  entrusted  to  her  for  his  successors, 
the  queen  thereby  incurring  life-long  retribution  in  her  in- 
effectual attempts  to  wring  her  jointure  from  an  exchequer 
which  she  had  herself  wantonly  impoverished.  Hence  the 
tiresome  and  ridiculous  wrangling  in  connection  with  her 
"conjunct  feoffment,"  neither  Margaret  nor  Henry  being 
conscious,  in  the  complete  absence  of  all  sense  of  humour  on 
their  part,  that  the  situation  was  occasionally  grotesque. 
Stolidly  unmindful  of  the  effect  they  produced  on  the  minds 
of  others  in  the  pursuit  of  their  own  selfish  ends,  they 
pursued  the  tenor  of  their  way  with  bucolic  doggedness. 
The  doggedness  ended  in  the  defeat  of  all  Henry's  enemies  ; 
in  Margaret's  case  it  ended  in  her  own. 

The  eleven  months  which  elapsed  between  the  gth 
September  1513  to  the  4th  August  1514,  were  the  most 
eventful  of  her  whole  life.  The  catastrophe  of  Flodden  left 
her,  perhaps  not  without  cause,  the  least  mournful  woman  in 
Scotland,  for  James  IV.,  with  all  the  heroism  that  attaches 
to  his  name,  had  little  claim  to  be  called  a  faithful  husband. 
Unhindered,  therefore,  by  any  excess  of  grief,  she  was  the 
better  able  to  attend  to  the  affairs  of  State,  and  to  hasten 
the  coronation  of  her  little  son,  a  baby  of  one  year  and  five 
months.  In  December  she  convened  the  Parliament  of 
Scotland  to  meet  at  Stirling  Castle,  and  formally  took  up 
the  dignity  of  regent  with  the  consent  of  the  assembled 
nobility  of  the  realm.  At  this  sitting  the  greatest  unanimity 
prevailed.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council  of  Scotland, 
under  date  I2th  January  1514,  occurs  the  following  entry: 
"  To  advise  of  the  setting  up  of  the  Queen's  household,  and 
what  persons  and  officers  are  necessary  thereto,  and  to 
advise  of  the  expenses  for  the  supportation  of  the  same,  and 
by  what  ways  it  shall  be  gotten." 

All  was  peace  for  a  short  time,  and  the  most  friendly 
relations  existed  between  the  queen  and  her  Council,  till  the 


MARGARET  TUDOR  7 

first  high-handed  attempt  of  Henry  VIII.  to  interfere 
through  his  sister  in  the  government  of  Scotland,  resulted 
in  her  temporary  banishment,  and  the  removal  of  the  infant 
king  from  his  mother's  care.1 

On  the  3<Dth  April  Margaret  gave  birth  to  a  posthumous 
son,  who  received  the  title  of  Duke  of  Rothesay ;  and  scarcely 
had  she  reappeared  in  public  after  the  birth  of  this  child,  when 
an  envoy  from  the  Emperor  Maximilian  brought  overtures  of 
marriage.  About  the  same  time,  she  received  a  like  proposal 
from  Louis  XII.  of  France,  who  afterwards  married  her  younger 
sister  Mary.  Dismissing  both  aspirants  to  her  hand,  before 
the  first  year  of  her  widowhood  had  run  its  course,  she  married 
Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus,  Margaret  being  in  her  twenty-fifth, 
he  in  his  nineteenth  year.  The  union  was  equally  unfortunate 
for  the  queen  herself  and  for  her  wretched  husband,  who, 
when  the  first  charm  of  novelty  had  passed,  was  disdainfully 
flung  aside,  and  never  restored  to  favour. 

There  was  an  ancient  custom  of  the  realm,  which  placed 
the  executive  power  and  the  person  of  the  king,  should  he 
be  a  minor  at  the  death  of  the  preceding  sovereign,  in  the 
hands  of  the  next  male  heir,  and  the  appointment  of  James's 
widow  to  the  regency  and  the  guardianship  of  his  son  was 
made  in  distinct  disregard  of  all  recognised  precedent.  The 
consent  of  the  Scottish  lords  to  the  innovation  had  been  given 
entirely  from  a  sense  of  loyalty  to  their  beloved  and  un- 
fortunate monarch  James  IV.  But  a  proviso  had  been  made 
in  his  will,  that  in  the  event  of  the  queen's  remarriage,  the 
regency,  as  well  as  the  guardianship  of  the  king,  should  pass 
to  John,  Duke  of  Albany,  the  next  heir  to  the  throne. 

But  Margaret,  who  had  not  scrupled  to  make  away  with 
the  royal  treasure,  was  scarcely  likely  to  be  very  conscientious 

1  P.  Martyr,  Ep.  535.  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  state  of  Scotland 
for  the  first  nine  years  after  the  disastrous  defeat  at  Flodden,  see  vol.  xiv. 
of  the  Exchequer  Rolls  of  Scotland^  edited  by  George  Burnett,  LL.D.,  Lyon 
King-of-Arms,  and  A.  Y.  G.  Mackay,  M.A.  (Oxon.),  LL.D.  (Edin.),  etc., 
His  Majesty's  General  Register  House,  Edinburgh. 


8  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

in  regard  to  the  duty  of  laying  down  a  sceptre,  the  pleasant- 
ness of  which  she  had  only  just  begun  to  taste.  She  was 
already  at  variance  with  her  Council,  who,  in  despair  of  any 
order  being  established,  had  invited  Albany,  then  in  France, 
to  come  over  and  take  up  the  reins  of  government.  As  early 
as  April  1514,  a  Bill  for  his  recall  had  been  read  in  Parliament, 
and  it  was  formally  enacted  that  all  the  fortresses  in  Scotland 
should  be  given  up,  a  blow  aimed  primarily  at  Stirling,  the 
queen's  chief  stronghold.1  Here  she  and  Angus  had  shut 
themselves  up,  on  hearing  that  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow, 
was  marching  on  Edinburgh.  They  were  captured,  but 
escaped  and  returned  to  Stirling,  where  they  were  besieged 
by  John  Hepburn,  Prior  of  St  Andrews. 

Margaret,  assuming  a  tone  of  injured  innocence,  wrote  to 
Henry  VI II.,  telling  him  that  she  and  her  party  are  in  great 
trouble  till  they  know  what  help  he  will  give  them ;  that  her 
enemies  continue  to  usurp  the  king's  authority  in  Parliament, 
holding  her  and  her  friends  to  be  rebels ;  and  she  entreats 
him  to  hasten  his  army  against  Scotland  by  sea  and  by 
land.2  This  was  clearly  as  much  an  act  of  treason  as  if  she 
had  deliberately  invited  any  other  foreign  enemy  to  come 
and  take  possession  of  the  realm ;  for  although  her  object 
was  merely  to  regain  the  powers  she  had  lost  by  her  own 
acts,  she  could  estimate  the  ruin  which  would  have  resulted 
to  Scotland,  if  Henry  had  really  been  in  a  position  to  invade 
the  country.  His  answer  to  her  appeal  was  to  send  the 
most  urgent  instructions  to  his  sister  to  prevent  Albany's 
landing  by  every  means  at  her  disposal.  In  the  meanwhile 
she  waited  impatiently,  but  in  vain,  for  both  troops  and 
money  from  Henry,  who  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  inform 
her  that  the  French  king  had  agreed  to  detain  Albany  in 
France,  on  condition  that  his  dear  cousin  should  send  his 

1  Brewer — Preface  to  Cal.  2,  part  i.  (note). 

2  Queen  Margaret  to  Henry  VIII.,  23rd  November  1514;  MS.  Cott., 
Calig.  B  I,  164 ;  Brit.  Mus. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  9 

sister  no  help,  but  leave  the  various  parties  in  Scotland  to 
fight  out  their  quarrels  alone. 

As  a  result  of  this  policy,  Margaret  at  last  began  to  find 
her  position  intolerable,  and  she,  no  less  than  her  enemies 
looked  forward  to  the  duke's  arrival  as  a  means  of  extricating 
herself  from  a  labyrinth  of  difficulties.  This  was  perhaps 
what  Francis  I.  had  foreseen ;  notwithstanding  his  promise 
to  Henry,  he  had  no  intention  of  permanently  preventing 
Albany,  who  was  more  than  half  a  Frenchman,  from  assum- 
ing a  dignity  that  would  result  in  a  strong  bond  of  union 
between  Scotland  and  France.  Albany  was  therefore  quietly 
allowed  to  escape  at  a  given  moment ;  and  when,  after  running 
the  gauntlet  of  Henry's  ships,  which  were  watching  for  him, 
he  landed  in  Scotland,  Margaret  resolved,  for  once  wisely,  to 
be  friends  with  him.1 

But  Henry  instructed  Lord  Dacre,  the  formidable  chief 
of  the  Marches,  to  stir  up  all  the  strife  possible  between  his 
sister,  the  new  regent,  and  the  Scottish  lords,  and  accord- 
ingly, whenever  there  was  a  sign  of  a  better  understanding 
between  the  three  parties,  Dacre  was  always  careful  to 
insinuate  to  the  queen  that  her  brother  was  her  best  friend. 
Finding  that  Albany  had  escaped  the  vigilance  of  his  fleet, 
Henry  wrote  a  high-handed  letter  to  the  Scottish  Council 
requesting  that  he  might  be  sent  back  to  France  forthwith. 
Their  reply  was  as  dignified  as  Albany's  own  conduct 
throughout,  and  in  strong  contrast  to  Margaret's  attitude. 
They  have,  they  say,  received  Henry's  letter,  dated  1st  July 
1516,  desiring  them  to  remove  John,  Duke  of  Albany,  the 
regent  from  the  person  of  their  king,  in  order  to  promote 
the  amity  of  the  two  realms.  The  duke  was  chosen  Protector 
by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Three  Estates,  and  was  sent 
for  by  them  from  France ;  he  left  his  master,  his  lady,  his 
living ;  he  has  taken  great  pains  in  the  king's  service  ;  he  has 

1  Seb.  Giustinian  to  the  Doge,  London,  5th  August  1515  ;  Venetian 
Archives. 


lo         STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

given,  and  proposes  to  give,  no  cause  for  dissatisfaction,  and 
if  he  would  leave,  they  would  not  let  him.  Moreover,  it  is  in 
exact  conformity  with  their  laws  that  the  nearest  in  succession 
should  have  the  governance ;  security  has  been  taken  by  the 
queen  and  others  to  remove  all  cause  of  suspicion,  and  they 
will  spend  their  lives  if  any  attempt  be  made  against  his 
Highness.1  This  document  was  signed  and  sealed  by  twenty- 
eight  spiritual  and  temporal  lords,  whose  names  are  still 
legible.  Ten  other  names  are  mutilated  beyond  recognition, 
although  their  seals  remain. 

Albany  had  meanwhile  written  to  Lord  Dacre,  denying 
that  he  had  usurped  the  king's  authority,  and  declaring  that 
he  had  done  nothing  but  by  order  of  the  Estates  of  the 
realm.  But  Henry  was  bent  on  picking  a  quarrel  with  him, 
and  Dacre's  letter  to  the  King  of  England's  Council  shows 
the  part  which  Dacre  was  instructed  to  play  in  the  troubles 
of  Scotland,  fomenting  feuds  between  Albany  and  every 
member  of  his  government,  in  the  hope  of  driving  him  out 
of  the  country.2  Difficult,  however,  as  Henry's  policy  made 
it,  the  regent  was  bent  on  maintaining  peace,  and  would 
probably  have  succeeded  but  for  Margaret.3 

The  good  understanding  between  the  regent  and  the  queen 
was  first  broken  by  his  summons  to  her  to  deliver  up  the 
royal  children  into  his  custody,  a  cruel  but  necessary  proceed- 
ing, since  the  regency  was  inseparable  from  the  governorship 
of  the  king  and  the  next  heir. 

A  true  and  tender  chord  is  struck  at  last,  when  Margaret, 
appealing  to  Henry,  exclaims,  "  God  send  I  were  such  a 
woman  as  might  go  with  my  bairns  in  mine  arms.  I  trow 
I  should  not  be  long  fra  you ! "  Nor  is  it  possible  to  feel 
aught  but  sympathy  for  her,  when  she  allows  herself  to  be 
stormed  in  Stirling  Castle  before  she  suffers  her  children  to 

1  Scottish  lords  to  Henry  VIII.,  4th  July  1516  ;  Record  Office. 

2  Cotton  MS.,  Calig.  B  2,  341  ;  Brit.  Mus. 

3  Albany  to  Dacre,  loth  August  1515  ;  R.O. 


MARGARET  tubofc  11 

be  torn  from  her.  Dacre  professed  to  believe,  and  perhaps 
caused  Margaret  to  fear,  that  they  would  be  destroyed  if  they 
fell  into  the  Duke  of  Albany's  power.  But  the  very  day 
on  which  Dacre  wrote  to  Henry's  Council,  advising  that 
money  should  be  sent  to  enable  her  to  hold  out,  the  regent 
prepared  to  bombard  her,  and  it  was  not  till  her  friends  had 
forsaken  her,  flying  for  their  lives  and  in  terror  of  Albany's 
proclamation,  that  placing  the  keys  of  the  fortress  in  her 
little  son's  hands,  she  desired  him  to  give  them  to  the 
regent,  and  to  beg  him  to  show  favour  to  himself,  to  his 
brother,  and  to  her  husband.  The  regent  answered  that 
he  would  be  good  to  the  king,  to  his  brother,  and  to  their 
mother ;  but  that  as  for  Angus,  he  "  would  not  dalye  with 
no  traitor."1 

No  sooner  had  Margaret  given  up  her  children,  than  she 
began  to  manoeuvre  how  to  steal  them  back  and  spirit  them 
over  the  Border.  While  pretending  to  be  too  ill  to  leave 
her  palace  at  Linlithgow,  where  she  gave  out  she  had 
"taken  her  chamber"  in  anticipation  of  her  approaching 
confinement,  she  effected  her  escape  into  England,  but  her 
plan  for  capturing  the  king  and  his  brother  failed.  Nothing 
could  now  exceed  her  desolate  condition,  as,  wandering  from 
place  to  place,  alone,  ill,  and  worse  than  friendless,  she 
sought  in  vain  a  refuge  in  all  that  wild  Border  region 
where  she  might  await  her  hour  of  peril.  Angus,  seeing 
the  turn  affairs  had  taken,  had  thought  it  prudent  to 
abandon  her  to  her  fate,  and,  after  helping  her  to  escape, 
returned  to  Scotland  in  the  hope  of  coming  to  terms  with 
Albany.  His  wife  was  at  last  thankful  to  accept  Lord 
Dacre's  rough  hospitality  in  his  gloomy  castle  of  Harbottle. 
Here  in  the  midst  of  a  brutal  soldiery,  with  no  woman  to 
render  her  the  most  needful  service,  she  gave  birth  to  a 
daughter,  the  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  on  the  5th  October 
1515.  On  the  loth  she  wrote  to  Albany  to  announce  her 
1  Cotton  MS.,  Calig.  U  2,  369  ;  B.M. 


12  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

delivery  "of  a  cristen  sowle  beying  a  young  lady,"  and 
miserably  ill  though  she  was,  did  not  omit  to  demand  "as 
tutrix  of  the  young  king  and  prince,  her  tender  children, 
to  have  the  whole  rule  and  governance  of  Scotland." 

To  this  letter  Margaret  received  an  answer  written  by 
the  Council,  stating  that  the  governance  of  the  realm  had 
expired  with  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  had  devolved 
to  the  Estates ;  that  with  her  consent  they  had  appointed 
the  Duke  of  Albany ;  that  she  had  forfeited  the  tutelage  of 
her  children  by  her  second  marriage,  and  that  in  all  temporal 
matters  the  realm  of  Scotland  had  been  immediately  subject 
to  Almighty  God,  not  recognising  the  Pope  or  any  superior 
upon  earth. 

Herewith  the  queen  was  forced  to  content  herself;  further 
words  would  have  proved  as  unavailing  as  reeds  against  the 
tempest,  and  even  words  were  soon  beyond  her  power  to 
write,  for  the  birth  of  her  daughter  was  succeeded  by  a  long 
and  painful  illness  which  nearly  proved  fatal  to  the  unhappy 
woman.  To  add  to  the  bitterness  of  her  trials,  at  the  moment 
when  she  was  beginning  slowly  to  recover,  came  the  news 
of  the  illness  and  death  of  the  little  Duke  of  Rothesay. 
Grief,  anger,  and  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  the  king  served 
naturally  to  increase  the  gravity  of  her  condition,  and  for 
months  she  lay  hovering  between  life  and  death,  loudly 
accusing  Albany  of  having  murdered  her  child. 

This  accusation  was  reiterated  to  Albany  himself  as  soon 
as  her  unsteady  hand  could  grasp  a  pen ;  but  the  regent 
took  no  heed  of  her  stinging  words,  continued  to  invite 
her  to  return  to  Scotland,  in  spite  of  her  persistent  refusal, 
and  apparently  succeeded  at  last  in  convincing  her  of  his 
innocence. 

On  her  recovery  she  wrote  to  him  from  Morpeth,  to 
announce  her  departure  for  the  south,  Henry  having  invited 
her  to  his  court,  accompanying  his  invitation  with  presents 
of  costly  stuffs,  and  money,  and  clothing  for  the  baby. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  13 

A  letter  from  Margaret  to  the  regent  at  this  moment 
is  significant  of  a  sudden  change  in  her  demeanour  towards 
him,  and  to  judge  by  her  subsequent  behaviour,  the  change 
meant  treachery.  Instead  of  the  fierce  denunciations  she 
had  lately  indulged  in,  she  acknowledged  that  she  had  often 
received  goodly  and  pleasant  words  as  well  as  letters  from 
him,  and  "though  his  conduct  has  not  always  corresponded 
to  them,  yet  as  matters  are  being  accommodated "  she  hopes 
he  will  reform  it.  The  meaning  of  this  change  of  tactics 
became  clear  to  all  but  the  regent  himself — who  seems  to 
have  been  of  a  singularly  unsuspicious  nature — as  soon  as 
Margaret  reached  London. 

Albany  was  still  hoping  for  a  permanent  peace  with 
Henry,  and  more  than  once  expressed  a  wish  to  pay  him 
a  friendly  visit.  This  both  Henry  and  Margaret  encouraged 
him  to  do,  and  writing  to  Wolsey  about  this  time,  the 
Scottish  queen  expressed  the  most  fervent  hope  that  the 
regent  would  come,  counterbalanced  by  the  fears  that  he 
would  not1  Had  the  matter  rested  entirely  with  himself, 
the  visit  would  certainly  have  taken  place,  but  his  Council 
having  some  reason  to  doubt  Henry's  fair  and  plausible 
words,  were  urgent  in  dissuading  him.  All  things  con- 
sidered, it  is  probable  that  the  duke  would  have  repented 
of  his  temerity  if  he  had  placed  his  head  within  the  lion's 
jaws. 

Having  failed  to  inveigle  the  regent  into  their  power,  the 
brother  and  sister  instructed  Dacre  to  "  sow  debate "  between 
him  and  his  Council,  but  this  scheme  failed  also.  Dacre 
wrote,  however,  to  show  that  he  was  not  wanting  in  zeal  in 
this  behalf,  saying  that,  being  unable  to  interfere  with  Scottish 
affairs  in  any  other  way,  he  had  given  rewards  to  four  hundred 
outlaws  for  burnings  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom.2  No 
means  proved  too  vile,  no  instrument  unworthy,  to  be  employed 

1  Cotton  MS.,  Vesp.  F  3,  36 ;  B.M. 

2  Dacre  to  Wolsey  ;  Calig.  B  i,  150  ;  B.M. 


14  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

in  the  work  of  destroying  the  regent  and  advancing  Tudor 
interests.  The  queen  even  condescended  to  use  her  truant 
husband,  and  the  part  played  by  Angus  is  scarcely  less 
reprehensible  than  Margaret's  own,  for  while  he  pretended 
to  be  loyal  to  Albany  and  to  Scotland,  he  possessed  himself 
of  every  important  State  secret  and  transmitted  it  to  his 
wife,  in  the  hope  of  appeasing  her  for  his  desertion.  She, 
of  course,  passed  on  all  that  she  thus  learned  to  Henry  and 
Wolsey. 

Margaret  was  entertained  for  a  whole  year  in  pomp  and 
splendour  at  the  English  court,  feasts  and  revels  succeeding 
each  other  in  bewildering  magnificence  —  luxury  in  vivid 
contrast  to  the  misery  which  she  had  undergone  during  the 
first  months  after  her  flight  from  Scotland.  Pageants, 
tournaments,  and  banquets  now  took  the  place  of  privation 
and  suffering ;  all  that  met  the  eye  was  changed,  but  the  dark 
and  treacherous  under-currents  known  to  but  few  of  her  con- 
temporaries remained  the  same,  and  were  the  realities  that 
shaped  her  course.  In  spite,  however,  of  plots  and  intrigues, 
Margaret's  position  was  not  improving.  Her  visit  to  England 
could  not  be  prolonged  indefinitely,  and  as  the  queen  was 
evidently  not  to  return  to  Scotland  in  triumph,  it  was 
desirable  to  make  as  good  terms  for  herself  as  she  possibly 
could. 

The  regent  promised  that  her  jointure  should  be  paid, 
and  that  Angus  should  be  allowed  to  join  her  if  he  were 
willing  to  do  so — a  somewhat  doubtful  alternative,  as  he  had  not 
availed  himself  of  the  leave  that  had  already  been  given  him- 
As  for  Albany  himself,  he  declared  that  it  had  always  been  his 
desire  to  gratify  the  queen,  and  to  advise  the  best  for  her  and 
for  her  son.1  Reluctantly,  therefore,  she  at  last  prepared  to 
turn  her  face  northwards,  having  obtained  permission  to 
take  with  her  a  suite  befitting  her  station,  safe-conduct  being 
granted,  except  in  the  case  of  any  person  among  them  plotting 
1  Calig.  B  2,  262  ;  B.M. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  15 

harm  to  the  kingdom  ;  and  to  these  conditions   Henry  set  his 
great  seal. 

A  letter  from  the  Venetian  envoy  to  the  Doge,  dated 
1 3th  April  1517,  says:  "The  truce  between  England  and 
Scotland  has  been  arranged.  The  queen  is  to  return,  but  is 
not  to  be  admitted  to  the  administration  of  the  kingdom. 
She  may  take  with  her  twenty-four  Englishmen,  and  as  many 
Scotch  as  she  pleases,  provided  they  be  not  rebels  "  ;  and  he 
adds  that  he  has  been  assured  of  these  facts  by  Albany's 
secretary. 

All  was  done  to  make  her  journey  as  easy  as  possible ; 
but  when  Margaret  arrived  at  Berwick,  it  needed  all  Dacre's 
powers  of  persuasion  to  induce  her  to  enter  Scotland.  At 
Lamberton  Kirk,  contrary  to  the  regent's  expectation,  she 
was  met  by  Angus,  accompanied  by  Morton  and  others  of 
the  Scottish  nobility,  with  three  hundred  men,  chiefly 
Borderers.  Albany  had  left  for  France,  taking  with  him  as 
hostages  the  heirs  or  younger  brothers  of  the  principal  men 
in  the  country,  whom  he  had  bound  over  to  keep  the  peace 
during  his  absence,  which  he  then  did  not  intend  to  prolong 
beyond  five  months. 

There  was  now  an  excellent  opportunity  for  beginning  a 
new  and  better  life,  had  the  queen  been  so  minded  ;  but  events 
proved  her  to  be  in  a  more  querulous,  treacherous,  and 
discontented  mood  than  ever.  "  Her  Grace  considereth  now, 
the  honour  of  England,  and  the  poverty  and  wretchedness  of 
Scotland,"  wrote  Magnus  to  Wolsey,  "  which  she  did  not 
afore,  but  in  her  opinion  esteemed  Scotland  equal  with 
England,"1  and  her  complaints  to  Henry  were  frequent  and 
loud. 

She  complained  of  her  husband,  of  her  poverty,  of  the  bad 

faith  of  the  Scottish  nation  who  still  left  her  jointure  unpaid,  of 

not  being  allowed  free  access  to  her  son.     She  had,  she  said, 

been  obliged  to  lay  in  wed  (pawn)  the  plate  given  to  her  by 

1  June  19,  1517  ;  Calig.  B  2,  253  ;  B.M. 


16  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Henry,  and  was  likely  to  be  driven  to  extreme  want,  as 
Wolsey  would  learn  by  her  messenger.  She  would  have  been 
still  worse  off,  she  caused  her  friends  to  write,  had  not  Magnus 
and  Dacre  drawn  up  a  book  at  Berwick,  the  day  before  her 
entry  into  Scotland,  by  which  Angus,  signing  it,  renounced  all 
claim  to  her  "conjunct  feoffment" * 

But  Margaret  did  not  stop  at  complaints;  Henry  must 
begin  the  war  again.  He  may,  she  declares,  reasonably  cause 
Scottish  ships  to  be  taken  ;  for  she  has  suffered  long  and 
forborne  to  do  evil,  although  she  knew  she  would  never  get 
good  from  Scotland  by  fair  means. 

When  by  dint  of  constant  urging  to  renewed  contests 
the  Borders  had  become  one  vast  battlefield  in  her  quarrel, 
she  wrote  to  the  Marquis  of  Dorset  to  beg  him  to  spare  the 
convent  of  Coldstream,  whose  abbess  had  done  her  good 
service  in  times  past.2  The  motive  for  this  intercession  was 
no  mere  charitable  one,  the  abbess  being  "one  of  the  best 
spies  for  England." 

And  now,  for  the  first  time,  Margaret  ventures  to  express 
the  wish  that  has  for  long  been  forming  itself  in  her  mind. 
She  has  been  much  troubled  by  Angus  since  her  coming  to 
Scotland,  and  is  so  more  and  more  daily.  They  have  not  met 
this  half  year,  and — after  some  hovering  of  the  word  on  her 
lips,  she  pronounces  it  boldly — she  will  part  with  him,  if  she 
may  by  God's  law,  and  with  honour  to  herself,  for  he  loves  her 
not.  Unlike  Henry,  when  seeking  a  pretext  to  divorce  his 
first  wife,  Margaret  was  at  no  pains  to  disguise  the  motive 
which  inspired  her,  and  a  possibility  of  a  flaw  in  the  marriage 
is  openly  but  a  pretext  for  getting  rid  of  a  husband  of 
whom  she  was  weary.  We  are  at  least  spared  the  nausea 
caused  by  Henry's  conscientious  scruples.  She  first  puts 
forward  frankly  her  wish  to  be  free  from  Angus,  and 
then  her  determination  to  divorce  him  if  she  may  lawfully. 

1  Dacre  to  Wolsey,  Harbottle,  5th  March,  1518  ;   R.O. 

?  Thomas,  Marquis  of  Dorset,  to  Henry  VIII. ;  Calig.  B  3,  255, 


MARGARET  TUDOR  i? 

But  it  was  the  only  piece  of  honesty  in  the  whole  business, 
for  the  suit  itself  was  one  long,  dreary  series  of  misrepre- 
sentation and  falsehood,  without  which  her  cause  could  by  no 
possibility  have  been  gained. 

The  usual  plea  of  pre-contracts  was  brought  forward,  but 
as  these  were  of  too  flimsy  a  nature  to  bear  investigation, 
Margaret  declared  that  the  late  King  of  Scots,  her  husband, 
was  still  living  three  years  after  the  battle  of  Flodden,  and 
that  consequently  he  was  alive  when  she  was  married  to  the 
Earl  of  Angus.1  As  the  king's  body  had  never  been  found, 
this  assertion  could  not  be  disproved,  though  there  was  no 
reasonable  doubt  as  to  James  having  fallen  on  that  calamitous 
day. 

However,  in  spite  of  her  bold  swearing,  Margaret  was  not 
so  certain  of  success,  but  that  she  was  anxious  for  Henry's 
support,  and  she  not  only  entreated  her  brother  to  befriend 
her,  but  promised  him  that  she  would  consult  only  his  wishes 
in  taking  another  husband,  and  that  this  time  she  would 
not  part  from  him.2  If  she  thought  that  a  fellow-feeling 
would  make  him  wondrous  kind  in  this  matter,  she  was 
disappointed.  It  was  no  part  of  Henry's  policy  that  his 
sister  should  put  Angus  away,  for  although  she  had  not 
consulted  him  in  the  choice  of  her  second  husband,  Henry  was 
very  well  satisfied  with  him.  He  could  to  a  certain  extent 
control  him,  and  at  all  events,  while  married  to  him  the  queen 
could  not  contribute  by  any  foreign  alliance  to  the  power 
and  greatness  of  Scotland. 

But  Angus  was  making  himself  obnoxious  to  his  wife 
beyond  her  very  limited  capacity  for  endurance.  Not  only  had 
he  proved  a  faithless  husband,  but  what  was  infinitely  worse 
to  her  mind,  he  refused  to  give  up  the  income  of  her  Ettrick 
Forest  estate,  which  she  had  made  over  to  him  in  the  days 
when  his  handsome  face  and  figure  had  first  struck  her  fancy, 

1  Magnus  to  Wolsey  ;  State  Papers,  vol.  iv.,  p.  385  ;  R.O. 
*  Calig.  B  i,  232  ;  B.M. 

JJ 


18  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  when  she  thought  nothing  too  costly  to  lavish  upon  him. 
She  had  made  him  great,  to  her  own  and  the  country's 
misfortune,  and  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to  make  him  small 
again  ;  but  all  Scotland  felt  the  evil  effects  of  his  power,  of  his 
ascendancy  over  the  young  king,  and  of  the  feuds  which 
resulted  therefrom.  So  great  was  the  scourge  felt  to  be,  that 
the  Council  appealed  to  Margaret  to  recall  the  Regent  Albany, 
that  he  might  restore  order. 

Margaret  was  aware  that  Albany's  return  was  the  thing 
of  all  others  that  Henry  wished  to  avoid,  but  it  suited  her 
for  the  nonce  to  act  the  part  of  a  good  Scotswoman,  and 
she  wrote  an  imploring  letter  to  the  duke,  begging  him  to 
come  back  and  take  pity  on  his  unhappy  country.1  Notwith- 
standing this,  her  complaints  to  Henry  through  Lord  Dacre 
of  her  bad  treatment,  and  her  supplications  to  be  allowed 
to  return  to  England,  did  not  cease.  She  had  "liever  be 
dead  than  live  among  the  Scots,"  and  she  entreats  that  no 
peace  may  be  renewed,  unless  "some  good  may  be  taken," 
that  she  may  live  at  ease.2 

Wolsey  was  not  sparing  in  his  remarks  on  the  queen's 
double-dealing,  the  facts  of  which  had  all  been  disclosed  to 
him  by  spies.  He  has,  he  says,  represented  to  the  king  her 
brother  "  the  folly  of  Queen  Margaret  in  leaning  to  her 
enemies,  and  departing  from  her  husband,"  notwithstanding 
what  Dacre  has  already  written  to  her.  Dacre,  by  the  king's 
desire,  is  to  tell  her  that  if  she  persists  in  her  dishonourable 
course  she  can  expect  no  favour.8 

Meanwhile  the  Earl  of  Surrey  had  been  dispatched  with 
an  army  to  the  Borders,  and  threatened  to  invade  Scotland, 
unless  the  Duke  of  Albany  were  abandoned,  and  Margaret 
reinstated  as  regent  On  the  i6th  September  1523,  he 
wrote  two  letters  to  the  queen,  one  intended  for  her  eyes 
alone,  the  other  to  be  shown  to  her  son's  Council.  In  the 
first  he  says  that  the  King  of  England  would  approve  of 
i  Calig.  B  I,  232.  z  Ibid.  B  2,  195.  3  Ibid.  B  3, 106. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  19 

her  son's  "coming  forth,"  and  shaking  off  all  tutelage  but 
his  mother's,  for  Surrey  is  about  to  waste  Scotland,  and  the 
young  king's  plea  for  emancipating  himself  should  be  that 
he  cannot  suffer  his  realm  to  be  laid  waste.  Margaret 
is  to  summon  the  lords  to  take  up  arms  in  her  son's 
defence,  and  she  will  then  be  in  a  position  to  command 
Surrey  to  retire.  She  will  thus  form  a  party  for  her 
son,  and  be  enabled  to  send  Albany  and  his  Frenchmen  back 
to  France.  Then  Surrey  will  turn  his  arms  against  her 
enemies. 

If  Margaret  keeps  her  promise,  money  will  be  forthcoming. 
In  the  event  of  her  causing  James  V.  to  "come  forth"  to 
Edinburgh,  he  has  no  doubt  that  if  the  king  will  command 
his  subjects  on  their  allegiance  to  take  his  part,  the  most 
of  them  will  do  so,  especially  the  Commons,  who  must  be 
roused  to  drive  the  French  to  Dunbar.  The  Earl  of  Surrey 
will  be  ready  to  give  assistance.1 

The  second  letter  was  to  the  same  effect,  though  more 
cautiously  worded.  The  King  of  England  would  be  glad 
to  hear  of  his  nephew's  prosperous  estate,  but  would  certainly 
be  dissatisfied  that  his  nobles  suffered  their  monarch  and 
themselves  to  be  kept  in  subjection  by  Albany.  Surrey  was 
ready  to  help  with  men  and  money  all  who  would  come 
forward  to  protect  their  natural  sovereign ;  but  peace  could 
never  be  between  the  two  realms,  if  the  Scots  did  not  give 
up  the  duke.  As  for  Margaret's  hope  that  Henry  would  be 
a  better  friend  to  Scotland  on  her  account,  Surrey  had  been 
ordered  to  desist  from  doing  any  more  hurt  at  her  request. 
He  had  now  waited  a  long  time,  he  wrote,  hoping  that  the 
Scottish  lords  would  have  shown  themselves  more  natural 
loving  subjects  than  they  now  appeared,  seeing  that  the 
day  appointed  for  the  Duke  of  Albany's  arrival  had  passed, 
and  that  their  king  was  in  no  greater  safety  than  he  was 
before.  All  the  world  would  see  that  the  fault  was  not 

1  Calig.  B  4,  196. 


20  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Henry's,  but  that  of  the  Scots,  who  refused  to  put  him  out  of 
the  realm  who  meant  to  destroy  the  king  and  usurp  the 
crown.  Henry  would  never  refrain  from  making  war  upon 
Scotland  until  they  forsook  Albany,  and  sued  to  him  for 
peace.  On  their  doing  this,  Surrey  had  full  authority  to 
treat  with  them,  and  to  assist  them  with  money  and  troops.1 

This  advice  produced  no  effect  whatever  on  the  Scottish 
lords,  whose  loyalty  to  the  regent  remained  unshaken. 
But  Margaret  did  not  consider  herself  hampered  by  any 
pledges  given  to  Albany,  and  two  days  after  the  receipt  of 
the  letters,  she  urged  Surrey  to  come  to  Edinburgh,  or 
somewhere  near  it,  at  once,  declaring  that  the  lords  would 
certainly  do  as  she  desired.  As  for  the  threatened  laying 
waste,  however,  "they  laughed  at  injuries  done  only  to  the 
poor  people."  A  thousand  men  with  artillery  would  have 
Edinburgh  at  their  mercy  if  they  came  suddenly.  Surrey 
must  go  at  it  at  once,  or  let  it  be.  Failing  this,  she  desired  leave 
to  come  to  England  with  her  true  servants,  adding,  "for 
I  will  come  away  and  I  should  steal  out  of  it"2 

The  truth  was,  that,  far  from  being  certain  that  the  lords 
would  agree  to  any  part  of  the  scheme,  Margaret  knew  well 
that  she  had  but  a  handful  of  friends  in  Scotland,  and  that 
her  sole  hope  of  regaining  the  regency  lay  in  Henry's  power  of 
coercion.  Trusting  that  Surrey  would  really  march  on 
Edinburgh,  she  did  all  she  could  to  persuade  the  Council  to 
allow  the  young  king  to  be  brought  to  that  place,  and  to 
appoint  new  guardians,  friendly  to  her  interests.  In  both 
these  endeavours  she  failed,  and  James  remained  at  Stirling. 

"  The  lords  are  all  fallen  away  from  the  queen,  and 
adhere  to  the  governor,"  wrote  the  Abbess  of  Coldstream 
to  Sir  John  Bulmer,  and  Surrey  passed  on  the  information 
to  Wolsey,  telling  him  that  Margaret  had  no  credit  with 

1  State  Papers,  iv.  21 — "Copy  of  my  letter  to  be  showed  to  the  lords 
of  Scotland  ;  in  Surrey's  hand"  ;  R,O. 

2  Ibid.  26. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  21 

the    Scotch,    and    that     they     looked     hourly     for     Albany's 
arrival. 

As  for  Lord  Surrey,  even  if  he  had  been  willing  to  besiege 
Edinburgh,  he  would  have  been  frustrated  by  the  want  of 
sufficient  means  of  transport  for  his  victuals.  Had  he  not 
caused  his  soldiers  to  carry  their  food  in  wallets,  and  their 
drink  in  bottles,  it  would  not  have  been  possible  for  him  to 
have  reached  the  North,  and  a  raid  into  the  enemy's  country 
necessitated  a  far  ampler  stock  of  provisions  than  could  be 
carried  in  this  way.  The  queen's  desire  that  he  should  take 
Edinburgh,  arose,  he  thought,  from  her  anxiety  to  provide 
herself  with  a  way  of  escape  from  her  difficulties.1 

In  England  it  was  commonly  believed  that  the  Scottish 
lords  were  in  so  great  a  fear  of  Albany,  who  was  hourly 
expected  to  arrive,  that  they  would  break  their  covenant  with 
him  even  though  they  had  each  given  him  four  of  the  best 
of  their  sons  as  hostages.  But  Surrey  declared  vehemently 
that  although  they  might  deceive  Margaret,  they  should  not 
deceive  him. 

The  suspense  was  ended  at  last,  and  Margaret  wrote  to 
inform  him  of  the  regent's  arrival.  Surrey  replied  at  once, 
desiring  to  know  further  what  number  of  horse  and  foot 
soldiers  had  come  with  him,  and  what  countrymen  they  were. 
He  could  give  her  no  advice  about  coming  away,  but  would 
meet  her  in  any  given  part  of  the  Marches,  and  at  whatever 
time  she  pleased.  Margaret  in  return  was  to  let  him  know 
when  the  Duke  of  Albany  intended  to  invade  England.  In 
conclusion,  hoping  to  prevent  any  rapprochement  between  her 
and  the  regent,  he  warned  her  that  Albany  would  most 
certainly  be  king  if  the  king  were  not  well  guarded,  "  for  the 
Frenchmen  can  empoison  one,  and  yet  he  shall  not  die  for  a 
year  after."  2 

The    slippery   nature    of    Margaret's    friendship   was   well 

1  Surrey  to  Wolsey,  Berwick,  2ist  Sept.  1523  ;  R.  O. 

8  Surrey's  Letterbook  ;  Tanner  MS.  90,  f.  47  ;  Bodleian  Library, 


22  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

known  to  Surrey,  and  he  kept  up  the  fiction  of  Albany's 
nefarious  intentions,  in  the  hope  of  making  her  faithful  to 
English  interests.  Unluckily  for  his  schemes,  he  did  not 
sufficiently  study  the  springs  of  her  actions,  which  would  have 
taught  him  to  be  more  lavish  with  his  bribes.  The  end  of 
her  next  letter  ought  to  have  opened  his  eyes  to  the  necessity 
of  striking  a  bargain  with  her  if  he  would  hope  to  draw  her 
into  the  English  net.  After  telling  him  that  the  duke  has 
held  a  council  at  Glasgow,  and  that  he  means  to  march  into 
England  in  a  fortnight,  she  goes  on  to  warn  him  that 
Scotland  was  never  before  made  so  strong,  and  says  that  it 
is  still  a  secret  whether  Albany  intends  to  attack  the  east  or 
west  Border,  but  she  thinks  both.  She  gives  him  a  detailed 
account  of  the  numbers  and  condition  of  his  soldiers,  and 
estimates  his  French  contingent  at  6000  men,  adding  that 
German  reinforcements  are  expected  by  the  first  fair  wind. 
They  trust  to  win  Berwick,  and  if  they  succeed,  she  and  her 
son  are  undone.  Then  she  begs  to  know  how  she  is  to  get 
away,  and  have  some  money.  If  Henry  will  not  help  her, 
she  must  perforce  ask  help  of  Albany ;  and  she  declares 
significantly,  "and  he  will  cause  me  to  do  as  he  will,  or  else 
he  will  give  me  nothing."  He  has  not  yet  come  to  her,  but 
he  writes  "  very  good  writings  of  his  own  hand,  and  as  many 
fair  words  as  can  be  devised,"  to  which  however  she  professes 
to  give  no  credence.1 

Surrey  was  of  the  opinion  that  Margaret  should  remain 
in  Scotland,  as  her  coming  to  England  would  cause  embarrass- 
ment and  expense.  Two  thousand  marks  would  hardly 
satisfy  her  in  England,  whereas  she  would  be  content  with 
three  or  four  hundred  pounds  a  year  in  Scotland,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  loss  Henry  would  incur  if  she  came  away,  in 
being  deprived  of  the  information  she  sent. 

But  it  was  just  this  haggling   over   bribes   that  prevented 
Margaret  from   being  altogether  on   Henry's  side,  and  threw 
1  Calig.  B  6,  379  ;  State  Papers,  iv.  40. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  23 

her  into  the  arms  of  the  more  generous  Albany  whenever 
there  was  the  least  hope  of  gain.  Thus,  a  month  later,  after 
the  somewhat  hasty  retreat  from  Wark,  she  told  Surrey  that 
she  had  been  obliged  to  take  what  money  the  duke  would 
give  her;  that  she  would  do  her  best  to  keep  her  son,  but 
that  she  could  not  displease  Albany  without  Henry's  support. 
She  implored  Surrey  to  plead  with  the  king  for  her,  and  in 
return  for  his  help  she  would  inform  him  of  all  she  knew  ; 
but  he  must  keep  it  secret1 

At  the  same  time,  she  gave  the  duke  to  understand  that 
she  had  incurred  her  brother's  displeasure  for  his  sake,2  and 
the  same  legend  was  repeated  to  the  lords  of  the  Council. 
Complaining  to  them  of  the  bad  treatment  she  had  received 
in  Scotland,  she  begged  them  to  bear  in  mind  the  loyalty 
she  had  always  shown  to  her  son,  to  the  lord  governor,  and 
to  the  realm,  incurring  for  the  last  three  or  four  years  her 
brother's  displeasure,  for  Albany's  sake,  at  whose  desire  she 
was  always  ready  to  write  the  best  she  could.3  Immediately 
upon  this  remarkable  statement  came  Henry's  answer  to  her 
last  appeal,  in  the  guise  of  one  hundred  marks  for  information 
received,  together  with  the  refusal  of  the  truce  which  Albany 
had  repeatedly  solicited.4  The  smallness  of  the  sum  prompted 
Margaret  to  write  a  diplomatic  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Surrey, 
in  which  she  declared  that  she  had  promised  before  the  lords 
to  be  a  good  Scotswoman,  and  to  agree  to  whatever  was 
for  the  good  of  her  son,  with  whom  she  was  resolved  to  bide 
as  long  as  she  might,  although  the  lords  were  bent  on 
separating  them.  They  cannot,  they  say,  help  her  to  her 
"conjunct  feoffment "  while  her  brother  makes  war  on  them, 
and  she  knows  not  where  any  other  help  may  be  got.  If  she 
is  to  live  with  her  son,  Henry  must  contribute  to  her  support, 
as  he  has  done  to  a  certain  extent  already.  She  will  do  as 
he  commands  her,  and  have  as  few  servants  as  possible.  She 

1  Calig.  B  i,  281.  2  Ibid.  159.  s  Ibid.  B  2,  268. 

*  State  Papers,  iv.  60,  26th  Nov.  1523  ;  R,O, 


24  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

had  asked  the  governor  and  lords  in  Council  why  she  was 
"  holden  suspect,"  and  not  allowed  to  be  with  her  son ;  and 
the  answer  she  received  was  that  she  was  Henry's  sister,  and 
would  perhaps  take  the  king  into  England,  and  they  knew 
well  her  brother  would  do  more  for  her  than  any  other.  She 
had  answered  that  her  deeds  had  shown  otherwise,  and  that 
she  could  prove  the  malice  of  such  an  accusation !  Thus 
Henry  would  see  how  she  suffered  for  his  sake.1 

The  next  scene  in  the  comedy  is  Margaret's  anger  on 
hearing  that  Albany  is  treating  with  Henry  for  peace,  without 
her  intervention.  "  It  is  hard,"  she  complains,  "  to  be  out 
with  the  governor  here,  and  not  to  know  what  the  king  will 
do  for  me ! "  If  she  had  flattered  Albany,  she  asserts,  she 
might  have  had  "'great  profits,"  but  she  will  not  take  them 
till  she  knows  Henry's  mind.  She  has  not  spoken  with 
Albany  since  Surrey  left,  and  would  not  do  so  as  long  as 
he  remained  in  Scotland,  so  discontented  were  they  with 
each  other.2  Upon  this  follows  an  astounding  revelation. 
Surrey  had  received  a  dispatch  from  the  queen  containing 
another  document,  the  seals  of  which  had  been  broken  and 
closed  again.  It  was  a  copy  of  an  agreement  between  Margaret 
and  the  Duke  of  Albany,  but  the  manner  in  which  it  came 
to  be  enclosed  in  her  letter  never  transpired,  though  it  was 
thought  that  the  packet  had  been  opened  by  a  spy,  and  the 
paper  inserted,  in  order  to  ruin  her  prospects  with  her 
brother. 

The  enclosed  document  ran  thus  : — 

The  queen  promises  that  during  the  minority  of  her  son, 
she  will  never  suffer  anything  contrary  to  the  duke's  authority, 
and  will  inform  him  of  it,  and  hinder  as  much  as  she  can  any 
wrong  intended  against  him  ;  she  will  not  consent  to  a  truce 
or  peace  with  England  without  the  comprehension  of  her 

1  Queen  Margaret  to  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  Dec.  1523  ;  R,O, 

2  Calig.  B  i,  209,  2  rst  April  1524, 


MARGARET  TUDOR  25 

son's  allies ;  she  will  assist  to  keep  him  securely,  according  to 
the  decree  of  the  last  Parliament ;  she  will  do  all  she  can  to 
hinder  any  practice  against  him  of  which  she  may  hear,  and 
will  inform  the  governor  of  it  if  he  be  in  the  country,  and  if 
not,  those  who  have  charge  of  the  king ;  she  will  not  consent 
to  anything  contrary  to  the  alliance  with  France,  or  to  the 
treaty  of  Rouen,  and  will  further  a  marriage  between  her  son 
and  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  King  of  France.  The 
governor  promises  to  do  the  like,  and  to  obtain  for  her  an 
honourable  reception  by  the  King  of  France,  if  she  incurs  the 
enmity  of  her  brother,  and  is  forced  to  quit  the  country  in 
consequence  of  the  assistance  he  may  give  to  Angus,  or 
other  evil-disposed  persons  who  may  interfere  with  her  goods 
and  conjunct  feoffment ;  he  will  if  she  requests,  send  some 
of  his  servants  with  her,  and  will  maintain  her  against  every- 
one except  the  king  her  son.  Both  parties  swear  to  keep 
these  promises  upon  the  Holy  Gospels.1 

Wolsey,  upon  receipt  of  this  information,  at  once  addressed 
instructions  to  Dacre,  charging  him  to  find  out  whether  such 
an  agreement  had  really  been  made,  and  if  so,  how  the  copy 
of  it  had  found  its  way  into  the  queen's  letter. 

Dacre  therefore  wrote  to  tell  her  of  the  discovery,  and 
recapitulating  the  contents  of  the  enclosed  document,  added 
that  the  king  desired  to  know  whether  she  had  consented  to 
it  of  her  own  free  will,  why  it  was  done,  whether  she  herself 
sent  the  copy,  or  if  not  who  did  send  it,  and  with  what  intent. 

Margaret  replied  by  an  indignant  but  weak  denial.  The 
instrument  in  question  was  one,  she  averred,  which  the  duke 
had  desired  her  to  execute,  but  which  she  had  declined  at 
all  costs  to  meddle  with. 

This  explanation  was  too  improbable  for  Wolsey  to  accept, 
the  whole  course  of  Margaret's  actions  tending  to  show  that  had 
Albany  tried  and  failed  to  draw  her  into  such  a  compact,  she 
l  Add,  MS.  24,  965,  ff.  231  and  234  ;  B.M, 


20  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

would  unhesitatingly  have  disclosed  the  negotiation  in  order 
to  make  capital  out  of  her  refusal.  The  opportunity  for 
demanding  large  sums  as  a  reward  for  her  fidelity  to  Henry's 
interests  would  have  proved  irresistible ;  while  as  a  matter 
of  fact  the  transaction  had  never  been  so  much  as  hinted 
at  in  any  of  her  letters.  Vague  allusions,  to  the  effect  that 
Albany  was  continually  outbidding  Henry,  had  been  her 
refrain  for  years  ;  but  whereas  she  sent  minute  and  circum- 
stantial details  of  every  other  secret  likely  to  prejudice  the 
country  and  the  regent,  she  had  been  silent  as  to  any 
definite  overtures  such  as  those  contained  in  the  document 
referred  to. 

The  alternative  was  to  believe  that,  while  pretending  to 
be  false,  for  once  she  was  true  to  Scotland ;  and  yet  she  stands 
so  deeply  "rooted  in  dishonour,"  that  her  acquittal  puts  but 
little  to  her  credit.  Her  only  resource,  when  Dacre  persisted 
in  his  accusation,  was  a  feeble  complaint  of  the  bad  treatment 
she  was  receiving  at  her  brother's  hands,  pleading  that  he 
neither  regarded  herself  nor  her  writing ;  that  she  had  not 
failed,  and  did  not  mean  to  fail,  but  that  if  others  had  been 
in  her  place  they  would  have  acted  very  differently.1 

To  this  Dacre  replied  ruthlessly,  that  it  was  well  known 
both  in  Scotland  and  in  England,  not  only  that  she  had 
assented  to  the  bond  found  in  her  letter,  but  that  it  had 
passed  her  sign  manual  and  seal,  in  return  for  which,  the 
Duke  of  Albany  had  given  her  the  wardship  and  marriage 
of  the  young  Earl  of  Huntly  and  of  others,  together  with 
other  gifts  and  rewards — a  proceeding  which,  declared  Dacre, 
was  a  great  dishonour  to  her  brother,  and  would  perhaps 
after  all  avail  her  but  little.  He  marvelled  also  greatly  at 
her  pretended  ignorance  of  the  negotiations  pending  between 
Albany  and  himself,  because  in  his  last  letter  he  had  informed 
her  of  all  the  proceedings.2 

1    Add.  MS.  24,  965,  f.  223,  igth  May  1524  ;  B.M. 
3  Ibid.  965,  f.  244,  27th  May  1524. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  27 

For  some  time,  Margaret  continued  to  deny  feebly  having 
formally  allied  herself  with  the  regent,  murmuring  at  Dacre's 
"sharpness"  towards  her,  notwithstanding  which  Dacre  con- 
tinued to  bring  fresh  proofs  of  her  duplicity  before  her,  till 
Henry  at  last  ordered  him  to  let  the  matter  drop,  whereupon 
she  was  willing  to  do  the  same.1 

Having  failed  in  the  past  to  secure  Margaret's  undivided 
favour,  Henry  now  took  a  more  persuasive  line,  and  sought 
to  convince  his  sister  how  much  good  might  in  future  accrue 
to  her  if  she  would  but  "  go  the  fruitful  way."  The  unfortunate 
Angus,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  England,  was  now  sent  back, 
in  the  hope  that  a  possible  reconciliation  with  her  husband 
might  detach  her  from  Albany.  But  this  was  far  from  succeed- 
ing. Margaret  could  with  difficulty  be  induced  to  receive 
him,  and  all  the  money  that  Henry  sent  to  her  went  to 
strengthen  the  hands  of  her  husband's  enemies,  so  that  Angus 
was  obliged  to  entreat  that  no  further  supplies  might  be 
provided.  Margaret  then  veered  round,  and  said  that  Albany 
had  sent  to  her  with  great  offers  if  she  would  join  his  party, 
adding  that  perhaps  the  duke  would  marry  her  after  getting 
her  divorced.  How  this  could  be  possible,  considering  that 
Albany  had  a  wife  already,  might  puzzle  a  mind  more  fettered 
by  the  logic  of  facts  than  was  the  queen's. 

That  she  was  seriously  anxious  to  be  agreeable  to  the 
duke  is  seen  by  the  instructions  which  she  delivered  to  John 
Cantely,  who  was  to  tell  the  regent  of  her  goodwill  towards 
him  and  the  kingdom  of  France.  And  lest  he  should  interpret 
unfavourably  the  circumstance  of  her  having  sent  ambassadors 
to  England,  she  assured  him  that  she  would  do  nothing  without 
including  France.  Finally,  she  wished  to  know  his  intentions 
towards  her  and  what  he  would  give  her.  In  the  event  of 
her  taking  his  part  against  England,  which  she  will  certainly 
do  if  Henry  continues  to  help  Angus,  Albany  must  secure 
for  her  the  protection  of  the  French  king.  If  this  king  desires 
1  Add.  MS.  24,  965,  f.  253  ;  B.M, 


p 
38  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

to  have  her  and  her  son  on  his  side,  he  must  support 
them. 

But  Albany  must  keep  the  matter  secret,  and  not  allow 
her  letters  to  be  sent  into  England,  as  has  been  done  formerly, 
and  she  will  take  his  part  against  everyone  except  her 
son.1 

This  was  written  on  the  22nd  February  1525,  but  on  the 
3ist  March  following,  Margaret,  in  a  stormy  interview  with 
Angus,  angrily  denied  having  negotiated  with  Albany  at  all. 
She  swore  that  she  had  always  sought  to  please  Henry,  and 
complained  of  his  letters  being  "sore  and  sharp."  She  had 
taken  a  great  matter  on  hand  at  his  request,  and  had  had 
much  trouble  with  the  duke  for  his  sake,  yet  now  that  she 
had  plainly  told  the  regent  that  she  followed  Henry's  pleasure, 
Henry  would  have  no  more  to  do  with  her.  If  he  will  not 
be  kind  to  her,  she  hopes  at  least  that  he  will  not  cause 
Angus  to  trouble  her  in  her  living.  She  has  a  plea  against 
Angus  before  the  Pope,  and  he  cannot  interfere  with  her  by 
law.2 

It  was  clearly  to  Henry's  interest  to  persuade  Margaret 
to  take  her  husband  back,  for  Angus  belonged  with  the  whole 
Douglas  family  to  Albany's  bitterest  enemies.  The  recon- 
ciliation between  him  and  the  regent  had  been  but  a  short 
interlude  brought  about  solely  from  self-interest  on  the  part 
of  Angus,  and  followed  by  a  deep  and  lasting  feud.  Added 
to  this  claim  on  Henry's  friendship  was  the  fact  that  he 
possessed  a  powerful  influence  over  the  young  King  James. 
But  with  the  page  of  Henry's  own  domestic  history  open 
before  us,  it  is  not  possible  to  repress  a  smile  at  the  arguments 
against  her  divorce  which  Henry  put  before  Margaret,  at 
the  very  moment  when  he  was  trying  to  force  the  Pope's  hand, 
in  order  to  obtain  from  him  a  sentence  against  his  own 

1  Double  de  la  credence  de  la  Royne  et  mtmoire  de  Mr  John  Cantely  \ 
R.O. 

8  .  B  7,  3. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  29 

marriage.  The  following  substance  of  a  letter,  written  it  is 
true  by  Wolsey,  but  dictated  by  his  master,  applies  in  every 
detail  as  well  to  Henry's  own  case  as  to  Margaret's.  If  we 
change  the  pronoun,  substitute  London  for  Rome,  king  for 
queen,  Katharine  for  Angus,  all  that  he  causes  Wolsey  to  say 
becomes  as  applicable  to  himself  as  to  his  sister. 

After  desiring  her  to  accept  favourably  Henry's  message, 
which,  he  says,  much  concerns  the  wealth  of  her  son  and 
her  own  repute,  the  cardinal  urges  her  brother's  hope  that 
the  "  undeceivable  spirit  of  God,  which  moved  him  to  send 
to  her,  will  effectually  work."  Amid  the  cares  of  his  govern- 
ment he  has  never  forgotten  her,  and  he  hopes  she  will  turn 
to  God's  word,  "the  vyvely  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
only  ground  of  salvation"  (i  Cor.  3).  He.  reminds  her  of 
the  divine  ordinance  of  inseparable  matrimony,  first  instituted 
in  Paradise,  and  hopes  her  Grace  will  perceive  how  she  was 
seduced  by  flatterers  to  an  unlawful  divorce  from  "the  right 
noble  Earl  of  Angus,"  etc.,  upon  untrue  and  insufficient 
grounds.  Furthermore,  "  the  shameless  sentence  sent  from 
Rome "  plainly  showed  how  unlawfully  it  was  handled,  judg- 
ment being  given  against  a  party  neither  present  in  person 
nor  by  proxy.  He  urges  her  further,  for  the  weal  of  her 
soul,  and  to  avoid  the  inevitable  damnation  threatened 
against  "  advoutrers,"  to  reconcile  herself  with  Angus  as  her 
true  husband,  or  out  of  mere  natural  affection  for  her 
daughter,  whose  excellent  beauty  and  pleasant  behaviour, 
nothing  less  godly  than  goodly,  furnished  with  virtuous  and 
womanly  demeanour,  should  soften  her  heart  That  she 
should  be  reputed  baseborn  cannot  be  avoided,  except  the 
queen  will  relinquish  the  "  advoutrous  "  company  with  him  that 
is  not,  nor  may  not  be,  of  right  her  husband.1 

The  individual  here  mentioned  was  Harry  Stuart,  with 
whom  Margaret  had  contracted  a  secret  marriage,  having  by 
dint  of  perjury  and  a  tissue  of  lies,  obtained  a  declaration  of 

1  Calig.  B  6,  194. 


30  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

invalidity  against  her  union  with  Angus.  She  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  in  the  least  affected  by  Henry's  hypo- 
critical reasoning,  but  the  manner  in  which  her  son  received 
the  news  of  her  third  marriage  caused  her  some  inconveni- 
ence. In  his  displeasure,  James  sent  Lord  Erskine  to  besiege 
his  mother  and  her  new  husband  in  Stirling  Castle ;  but 
what  promised  to  be  a  tragedy  had  a  somewhat  ridiculous 
end,  for  Margaret,  in  terror  of  what  might  follow,  at  once 
gave  up  her  husband,  who  after  a  short  imprisonment  was 
allowed  to  escape.  He  promptly  rejoined  the  queen,  and 
James  subsequently  forgave  him,  and  created  him  Lord 
Methven. 

But  not  even  when  her  son  had  come  to  his  own  did 
Margaret  cease  to  plot  and  intrigue.  Henry's  suspicious 
character  imperatively  demanded  that  all  that  was  going  on  in 
Scotland  should  be  known  without  delay  at  the  English  court, 
and  his  sister  was  the  only  possible  agent  for  the  purpose. 
It  does  not  appear  that  her  treachery,  now  doubly  odious, 
ever  cost  her  the  least  qualm.  The  climax  was,  however, 
reached,  when  after  persuading  James  to  confide  to  her  his 
private  instructions  to  the  Scottish  ambassador  residing  in 
London,  she  contrived  that  the  information  thus  obtained 
should  be  in  Henry's  hands  at  the  same  moment  that  it  reached 
its  legitimate  destination. 

Fortunately  for  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  the  treasonable 
correspondence  was  discovered ;  and  Margaret  narrowly 
escaped  imprisonment.  The  immediate  result  was  to  put  an 
end  to  the  more  friendly  intercourse  that  had  sprung  up 
between  the  two  countries,  and  to  prevent  a  meeting  between 
the  two  sovereigns,  in  process  of  negotiation. 

At  this  interview,  which  was  to  have  taken  place  at  York, 
Henry  hoped  to  convert  his  nephew  to  his  own  views 
regarding  the  Pope  ;  and  in  order  to  pave  the  way  to  a  good 
understanding  between  them,  he  sent  Barlow  and  Holcroft 
to  Scotland  with  a  lengthy  document  containing,  with  much 


MARGARET  TUDOR  31 

fulsome  flattery  of  James,  all  Henry's  choice  vocabulary  of 
epithets  hurled  against  the  "Bishop  of  Rome."1 

Margaret,  ignorant  that  her  son  had  discovered  her 
treachery,  continued  to  urge  him  to  proceed  to  York  ;  but 
her  eagerness  only  roused  his  suspicions  that  worse  treason 
lay  behind. 

"The  Queen,  your  Grace's  sister,"  wrote  Lord  William 
Howard  to  Henry,  "  because  she  hath  so  earnestly  solicited  in 
the  cause  of  meeting,  is  in  high  displeasure  with  the  King,  her 
son,  he  bearing  her  in  hand  that  she  received  gifts  of  your 
Highness  to  betray  him,  with  many  other  unkind  and 
suspicious  words." 2 

Enough  has  been  already  seen  of  Margaret's  methods  to 
make  it  quite  clear  what  her  next  step  would  be.  Out  of 
favour  with  James,  she  of  course  threw  the  whole  brunt  of 
her  misfortune  on  Henry,  for  whose  sake  she  had  incurred  so 
much  danger  and  expense,  having  lived  for  the  last  six  months 
at  court  for  the  sole  purpose  of  advancing  his  affairs.3  But 
Henry  was  beginning  to  weary  of  his  sister's  complaints  and 
appeals  for  money.  Besides,  James  would  in  future  guard 
his  secrets  better,  and  Margaret  almost  cease  to  be  useful  as  a 
spy.  So  she  must  not  expect  him  to  disburse  notable  sums, 
merely  because  she  is  his  sister,  and  must  henceforth  learn  to 
be  content  with  the  entirely  sufficient  provision  made  for  her 
on  her  marriage  with  the  King  of  Scots.4 

This  was  all  the  consolation  he  could  afford  her  for  some 
time  to  come,  for  besides  his  other  reasons  for  disregarding 
the  letters  which  she,  nothing  daunted  by  his  silence,  continued 
to  send  him,  Henry  was  too  much  occupied  with  his  own 
concerns  to  bestow  much  thought  on  a  sister  whose  power 
of  helping  him  was  now  small.  It  was  the  moment  of  Anne 

1  Hamilton  Papers — Instructions  to  Barlow  and  Holcroft,  3rd  Oct.  1535, 
fol.  27. 

a  State  Papers^  iv.  46  ;  R.O. 

3  Add.  MS.  32,  616,  f.  87  ;  B.M. 

4  State  Papers,  v.  56  ;  R.O. 


32  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Boleyn's  fall,  and  he  was  engrossed  with  the  list  of  crimes 
of  which  he  was  about  to  accuse  the  unhappy  woman. 

On  the  subject  of  Margaret's  various  marriages,  her 
brother  had  ever  failed  to  manifest  that  sympathy  which  a 
similarity  of  tastes  would  seem  to  justify.  He  had  assumed 
the  tone  of  a  moralist  on  her  separation  from  Angus,  and 
had  treated  Lord  Methven  in  his  letters  with  scant  respect, 
and  when  in  the  course  of  time  she  began  to  be  weary  of 
her  new  spouse,  and  to  complain  of  him  with  increasing 
bitterness,  it  was  long  before  Henry  could  be  roused  to 
express  any  interest  in  the  subject  At  last,  however,  he 
found  a  convenient  season  for  attending  to  her.  She  had 
written  to  inform  him  that  whereas  she  did  Lord  Meffen 
(sic)  the  honour  to  take  him  as  her  husband,  he  had  spent 
her  lands  and  profits  upon  his  own  kin,  and  had  brought 
her  into  debt,  to  the  sum  of  8000  marks  Scots,  and  would 
give  her  no  account  of  it  She  trusted  the  king  her  son 
would  treat  her  to  his  and  her  own  honour ;  but  if  not,  she 
had  no  refuge  but  in  Henry,  and  she  begged  him  not  to 
suffer  her  to  be  wronged. 

To  this,  Henry  deigned  to  reply  that  he  should  be  sorry 
if  his  good  brother  and  nephew  treated  her  otherwise  than 
a  son  should  treat  his  mother.  As  it  appeared  from  certain 
evidence,  she  was  well-handled,  and  had  grown  to  much 
wealth  and  quiet;  but  according  to  other  reports,  quite  the 
contrary,  so  that  he  was  in  doubt  which  to  believe.  "  Also," 
he  continues,  "  having  heard  at  other  times  from  you  of  your 
evil-treatment  by  your  son  and  Lord  Muffyn  (sic),  and  as 
we  are  sending  the  bearer  into  those  parts,  on  our  business, 
we  desire  you  to  show  him  the  points  wherein  you  note 
yourself  evil-handled,  and  whether  you  desire  us  to  treat 
of  them  with  your  son,  or  only  generally  to  recommend  your 
condition." l 

Margaret  had  remained  faithful  to  Lord  Methven  for 
1  State  Papers,  v.  63,  65. 


MARGARET  TUDOR  33 

about  ten  years,  and  it  was  not  till  1537  that  she  thought 
of  formally  applying  for  a  divorce,  her  chief  plea  being  that 
he  wasted  her  money,  although  she  said  she  had  "forty 
famous  proofs"  against  him.1 

James  was  furious,  and  ordered  that  the  divorce,  whether 
obtained  at  the  cost  of  more  false  oaths,  or  whether  Margaret's 
so-called  third  husband  really  had  a  wife  living  when  the 
union  was  contracted,  should  not  be  proclaimed  in  Scotland. 

This  constituted  Margaret's  famous  grievance  against 
James,  his  objection  to  her  divorce  being,  his  mother  declared, 
the  fear  lest  she  should  pass  into  England  and  remarry  the 
Earl  of  Angus.  "And  this  Harry  Stuart,  Lord  of  Methven, 
causes  him  to  believe  this  of  me  /"  she  exclaimed  contemptu- 
ously.2 One  plea  for  getting  rid  of  the  now  despised  Harry 
Stuart  is  too  amusing  to  be  omitted.  James  was  in  France, 
whither  he  had  gone  to  bring  home  his  bride,  the  young  and 
beautiful  Magdalene,  daughter  of  the  French  king,  and 
Margaret  thought  to  induce  Henry  to  interest  himself  in 
her  divorce  through  his  jealousy  of  the  French. 

After  begging  him  to  send  a  special  messenger  to  the 
king  her  son,  to  know  his  "  utter  mind,"  she  says :  "  For  now, 
dearest  brother,  your  Grace  I  trust  will  consider  that  now 
the  queen  his  wife  is  to  come  into  this  realm  soon  after 
Easter,  as  he  hath  sent  word  here,  to  make  ready  for  the 
same,  and  that  being,  it  will  be  great  dishonour  to  him  that 
I,  his  mother,  having  a  just  cause  to  part,  can  nought  get 
a  final  end ;  and  I  trust  your  Grace  will  consider  I  may  do 
your  Grace  and  my  son  more  honour  to  be  without  him 
(Lord  Methven)  than  to  have  him,  considering  that  he  is 
but  a  sober  man,  and  if  the  Queen  that  is  to  come,  see  me 
not  entreated  as  I  should  be,  she  will  think  it  arj  evil 
example."3 

1  Hamilton  Papers,  I3th  Oct.    1537,  f.  105. 

2  State  Papers,  v.  119. 

3  Hamilton  Papers, ,  f.  109. 


34  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

But  all  her  efforts  were  fruitless ;  Henry  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  take  up  her  quarrel,  and  James  was  obdurate. 
His  mother,  however,  then  in  her  forty-ninth  year,  dispensed 
with  legal  formality  altogether,  and  allied  herself  to  a  certain 
John  Stuart,  who,  according  to  some,  is  identical  with  the 
adventurous  Earl  of  Arran,  so  notorious  in  the  reign  of 
James  VI. 

A  few  more  miserable  years  of  petty  intrigues,  it  being 
no  longer  in  her  power  to  carry  on  important  ones,  and 
Margaret  came  to  the  close  of  her  faithless,  undignified  life. 
But  before  the  end,  a  ray  of  sorrow  for  her  mis-spent  days 
brightened  the  hitherto  unrelieved  gloom  of  her  career. 
Henry's  messenger,  sent  after  her  death  to  gather  up  the 
details  of  her  last  moments,  and  above  all,  to  find  out  whether 
she  had  made  a  will,  wrote  to  the  king  as  follows : — 

"When  she  did  perceive  that  death  did  approach,  she 
did  desire  the  friars  that  was  her  confessors,  that  they  should 
sit  on  their  knees  before  the  King,  and  to  beseech  him  that 
he  would  be  good  and  gracious  unto  the  Earl  of  Angwische, 
and  did  extremely  lament  and  ask  God  mercy  that  she  had 
offended  unto  the  said  Earl  as  she  had." 

The  friars  were  also  to  plead  with  her  son  for  the  Lady 
Margaret  Douglas,  the  daughter  whom  she  had  so  remorse- 
lessly abandoned,  and  to  beg  him  that  she  might  have  some 
of  her  mother's  goods.  And  thus,  making  what  reparation 
she  could,  with  penitent  words  on  her  lips,  Margaret  Tudor 
passed  away. 


Photo 


A.  W.  Mnnsell  &  Co. 

ANNE  OF  CLEVES  (Fourth  Wife  of  Henry  VIII.). 

From  a  Portrait  by  Hans  Holbein  in  the  Louvre. 


[To  Jacc  page  35. 


II 

NOR  WIFE   NOR  WIDOW 

THE  history  of  the  first  two  marriages  of  Henry  VIII.  is  of 
such  vital  importance,  affecting  as  they  did  the  whole  course 
of  religion  in  England,  from  the  first  whisperings  of  the 
divorce  down  to  the  present  day,  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  if  the  royal  Bluebeard's  subsequent  matrimonial  alliances 
have  been  considered  negligeable  quantities.  And  yet,  at 
least  one  of  them  was  of  extreme  political,  and  even  religious, 
importance,  and  was  fraught  with  so  much  mystery  that 
until  the  most  recent  investigations,  the  true  inwardness  of 
the  matter  has  been  totally  misapprehended.  The  story  of 
Anne  of  Cleves'  portrait,  and  Henry's  supposed  disappoint- 
ment when  he  saw  the  lady  herself  for  the  first  time,  is 
authentic  in  so  far  as  it  was  exactly  what  the  king  chose  to 
have  circulated  about  his  fourth  marriage.  But-  if  it  con- 
tained half  the  truth,  it  was  the  other  half  that  really 
mattered. 

After  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  Thomas  Cromwell  had  by  his 
astute  policy  succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  religious  state  of 
things  in  England  that  approached  very  nearly  to  Lutheran- 
ism.  Taking  advantage  of  Henry's  pique  and  anger  at  the 
Pope's  refusal  to  grant  him  a  divorce  from  Katharine  of 
Arragon,  Cromwell  set  about  widening  the  breach  between 
England  and  Rome.  After  weakening  the  power  of  the 
bishops  and  lower  clergy,  he  was  able  to  force  the  oath  of 

16 


36  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

supremacy  upon  the  nation,  and  having  thus  satisfied  his 
master's  pride  and  vanity,  his  next  step  was  by  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monasteries  to  pander  to  Henry's  greed,  while 
at  the  same  time  he  filled  his  own  pockets. 

In  pursuit  of  these  ends  he  had  covered  the  land  with 
gibbets,  and  caused  the  noblest  heads  in  England  to  fall 
upon  the  block.  He  had  branded  the  king's  own  daughter 
with  the  stigma  of  infamy,  and  to  obtain  her  consent  thereto 
had  kept  the  axe  suspended  over  her.  He  had  been  able 
to  accomplish  all  this  because  thus  far  he  had  taken  Henry's 
measure  correctly,  working  upon  his  worst  passions,  and 
suggesting  ever  fresh  means  of  satisfying  them.  Then 
came  a  point  at  which  his  interests  and  those  of  the  king 
diverged. 

Cromwell  was  deeply  pledged  to  the  Lutheran  cause,  and 
his  plan  was  to  throw  Henry  into  the  arms  of  the  Lutheran 
princes  of  Germany.  He  had  already  flooded  the  country 
with  foreign  heretics,  using  them  as  his  tools  to  protestantise 
the  Church  in  England. 

Jane  Seymour  died  in  1537,  and  Cromwell  at  once 
negotiated  a  marriage  between  Henry  and  Anne,  daughter 
of  the  Duke  of  Cleves,  Henry  consenting  for  the  reason  that 
it  behoved  him  to  fortify  himself  by  an  alliance  that  would 
enable  him  to  make  a  stand  against  a  possible  combination 
of  forces  between  the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  and  the  French 
King.  But  at  the  very  moment  when  Cromwell,  believing 
himself  to  be  at  the  point  of  realising  all  his  desires,  was 
pledging  his  master  to  marry  Anne  of  Cleves,  a  reaction 
had  set  in  which  he  so  completely  disregarded  as  to  seem 
in  utter  ignorance  of  it. 

Nothing  annoyed  Henry  more  than  to  be  twitted  with 
being  a  heretic,  and  whenever  Henry  was  annoyed  a  blow 
might  be  expected.  The  loathed  epithet  was  now  very 
frequently  used  in  reference  to  him  by  the  emperor  and 
others,  and  he  was  bent  on  showing  Europe  that  he  could 


NOR  WIPE  NOR  WIDOW  3? 

be  a  very  good  Catholic  without  the  Pope.  It  irritated  him 
to  think  that  Cromwell  had  laid  him  open  to  retort  in  this 
contention  by  a  formal  alliance  with  the  Lutherans,  who 
were  undeniably  heretics.  It  served  his  purpose  very  well  to 
play  them  off  against  the  emperor  and  even  Francis  I.,  but 
it  was  not  his  will  to  be  bound  irrevocably  by  any  contract. 
When  Cromwell  thought  to  put  the  finishing  touch  to  his 
triumphant  scheme,  he  only  effected  his  own  doom.  He 
boasted  to  the  Lutherans  that  he  would  soon  bring  England 
over  to  their  forms  of  faith,  and  on  this  promise  the  match 
between  Henry  and  Anne  was  concluded  ;  but  he  failed  to 
rouse  the  German  princes  to  a  contest  with  the  emperor, 
which  was  all  that  Henry,  apart  from  his  minister's  policy, 
had  aimed  at  from  the  beginning.  With  Henry  the  whole 
scheme  was  tentative,  and  the  proposed  marriage  but  a  detail 
of  that  scheme.  When  it  fell  through,  he  desired  to  turn 
his  back  upon  Cleves  and  the  rest  of  the  German  princes  ; 
moreover,  he  had  no  further  need  of  Cromwell  himself,  who 
was  rather  in  the  way  of  his  new  plans,  unless  the  minister 
could  find  a  means  to  disentangle  the  imbroglio  he  had 
created  with  regard  to  Anne. 

Like  a  child  with  a  new  toy,  Henry  was  now  engrossed 
in  the  fun  of  being  Pope  in  his  own  dominions ;  and  as  Head 
of  the  Church  of  England  whom  it  behoved  to  reprobate 
heresy  in  every  shape  and  form,  he  conducted  a  trial  against 
one  John  Nicholson,  who,  refusing  to  recant  his  heretical 
opinions,  was  burned  at  Smithfield.  After  this  he  felt 
confident  of  being  as  Catholic  as  the  real  Pope,  and  safe 
from  opprobrium.  He  proceeded  to  bring  forward  delibera- 
tions in  Parliament  on  the  subject  of  religion,  with  the  result 
that  the  famous  Act  of  the  Six  Articles  was  passed.  This 
Act,  nicknamed  by  the  Lutherans  "  the  whip  with  six  cords," 
brought  in  a  reaction  in  favour  of  the  old  religion,  which 
lasted  till  Henry's  death,  but  matters  between  England  and 
Rome  remained  as  they  were. 


38  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AKD  CtOISTEft 

Meanwhile,  the  lady  Anne  of  Cleves  had  made  her  un- 
welcome appearance.  One  of  the  most  curious  and  indeed 
incomprehensible  facts  concerning  Henry  VIII.,  is  the  admiring 
awe  and  grovelling  gratitude  with  which  he  was  adored  by 
most  of  the  women  whom  he  had  the  privilege  of  ill-treating. 
After  the  year  1527,  when  he  first  conceived  the  desire  o 
raising  Anne  Boleyn  to  the  throne,  and  of  divorcing  Katharine, 
except  for  the  short  period  during  which  he  was  married  to 
Jane  Seymour,  there  were  always  two  rival  claimants  for  his 
hand.  Not  only  was  Katharine  ever  generously  ready  to 
forget  past  insults  if  he  would  graciously  extend  his  clemency 
towards  her,  and  send  Anne  away,  but  every  other  woman 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  addressed  him  in  words  more 
suited  to  a  divinity  than  to  an  earthly  king.  His  daughter 
Mary,  after  having  been  spurned  as  the  most  degraded 
and  abject  creature  of  the  realm,  longed  for  nothing  more 
ardently  than  "to  attain  the  fruition  of  his  most  desired 
presence." 

Although  the  personal  appearance  of  Anne  of  Cleves  did 
not  bear  out  the  exaggerated  reports  of  the  German  agent 
Mont,  who  had  told  Henry  that  her  beauty  exceeded  that  of 
the  Duchess  of  Milan  "  as  the  sun  outshines  the  silver  moon," 
she  was  found  on  her  arrival  in  England  to  be  "tall,  bright, 
and  graceful,"  her  liveliness  making  amends  for  any  defect 
as  to  regularity  of  feature.  Comparing  her  claim  to  beauty 
with  that  of  the  other  wives  of  Henry  VIII.,  it  does  not 
appear  that  she  contrasted  unfavourably  with  any,  not  even 
with  Katharine  Howard,  who  was  very  generally  admired.  The 
king  himself  observed  to  Cromwell  that  Anne  was  "well  and 
seemly,  and  had  a  queenly  manner,"  but  that  he  found  it 
difficult  to  converse  with  her  as  she  knew  no  word  of  any 
language  but  German. 

He  had  first  met  her  privately  at  Rochester,  and  had 
dined  with  her,  their  public  meeting  taking  place  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  foot  of  Shooter's  Hill,  where  she  rested  in  a 


NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW  39 

gorgeous  pavilion  prepared  for  the  occasion.  Henry  came 
marching  through  Greenwich  Park  with  a  brilliant  escort, 
and  the  bride  and  bridegroom  met  full  merrily.  The  king 
embraced  the  lady  ceremoniously,  and  the  chronicler  Hall, 
some  time  afterwards,  in  describing  their  entry  into  Greenwich, 
breaks  out  into  one  of  his  eulogistic  periods  : — 

"O  what  a  sight  was  this,  to  see  so  goodly  a  Prince  and 
so  noble  a  King  to  ride  with  so  fair  a  lady,  of  so  goodly  a 
stature,  and  so  womanly  a  countenance,  and  in  especial  of 
so  good  qualities.  I  think  no  creature  could  see  them  but 
his  heart  rejoiced ! " 

Nevertheless,  Henry's  moody  question,  "  What  remedy  ? " 
which  obviously  had  its  origin  in  no  mere  disappointment  in 
the  matter  of  Anne's  beauty  or  power  to  charm,  was  calculated 
to  strike  terror  into  Cromwell's  soul,  the  chancellor  knowing 
full  well  that  all  this  bravery  was  but  an  appearance,  and 
that  his  great  scheme  of  Lutheranising  England  to  the  greater 
glory  of  himself  was  irrevocably  wrecked,  and  his  own  fate 
sealed.  The  king  went  on  to  say  that  if  it  were  not  that  the 
lady  had  come  so  far,  and  for  fear  of  making  a  ruffle  in  the 
world,  and  of  driving  her  brother  into  the  emperor's  arms 
and  those  of  the  French  king,  he  would  not  go  through  with 
the  marriage  ceremony. 

As  a  forlorn  hope  of  escape,  the  bride  was  asked  to  make 
a  declaration  that  she  was  free  from  all  pre-contracts,  which 
she  did  without  the  least  hesitation,  and  there  was  nothing  to 
be  done  but  for  Henry  "to  put  his  head  into  the  yoke,"  and 
to  make  an  insignificant  political  alliance,  which  would  thence- 
forth serve  no  political  end.  As  a  Catholic  king,  Head  of 
the  Church  and  Defender  of  the  Faith,  there  was  no  room  in 
his  plans  for  a  Lutheran  queen.  However,  he  no  longer 
regarded  the  marriage  tie  as  a  knot  that  could  not  be  undone 
at  a  pinch.  Cranmer  could  be  counted  on  to  be  pliable  in 
that  matter,  and  if  Cromwell  made  difficulties,  a  sword  was 
hanging  over  him  that  could  be  made  to  1  at  any  moment, 


40  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  Henry  knew  that  the  death  of  the  man  who  had  been  the 
terror  of  England  for  ten  years  would  be  hailed  with 
enthusiasm  by  the  whole  nation.  Henry's  foreign  policy 
had  always  been  a  non-committal  one,  and  Cromwell's  daring 
intrigues  had  carried  his  master  further  than  he  intended  to 
go.  As  the  chancellor  could  find  no  means  of  getting  him 
out  of  the  mess,  he  lost  his  life,  and  Anne  of  Cleves  her 
barely  assumed  dignity. 

The  disgusting  letters  which  Cromwell  wrote  from  the 
Tower,  in  the  hope  that  his  tardy  playing  into  the  king's 
hands  would  obtain  him  a  pardon,  were  of  immense  use  to 
Henry  in  confusing  the  public  mind  as  to  the  real  reason  for 
his  repudiation  of  Anne,  for  he  was  anxious  in  breaking  off 
from  Protestant  Germany  not  to  turn  the  Duke  of  Cleves  into 
an  enemy.  The  want  of  decency  and  the  unchivalrous  sacrifice 
of  Anne's  honour  and  dignity  are  perhaps  not  surprising  between 
such  men  as  Henry  and  Cromwell,  but  it  is  startling  to  find 
the  lady's  brother  swallowing  the  insult  calmly.  Nevertheless, 
Henry's  diplomatic  insight  had  correctly  gauged  the  coarsening 
effect  of  Luther's  moral  code  on  a  mind  that  could  see  less 
offence  in  a  stain  of  this  kind  than  in  a  frank  rupture  of  the 
marriage-treaty  before  Anne  had  been  allowed  to  set  foot 
in  England.  There  is  this,  however,  to  be  said,  that  the 
possession  of  the  lady  gave  Henry  a  decided  advantage  over 
her  brother. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  marriage,  or  what  passed  for  such, 
Anne  was  sent  to  Richmond  on  the  pretext  of  being  out  of 
reach  of  the  plague,  but  there  was  no  talk  at  that  time  of 
any  plague,  and  if  there  had  been,  Henry  would  certainly 
have  gone  away  also,  for  no  one  feared  the  epidemic  more 
than  he.  On  her  departure,  a  commission  was  appointed 
under  the  Great  Seal  to  inquire  into  the  validity  of  her 
marriage,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  it  was 
declared  null,  by  reason  of  a  pre-contract  with  the  son  of  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine.  Henry  then  endowed  his  ex-queen  with 


NOR  WIFJE  NOfc  WIDOW  41 

lands    to    the    value    of    ^4000   annually,   with    a    house    at 
Richmond,  and  another  at  Bletchingly. 

Whatever  she  may  have  felt,  Anne  expressed  herself 
willing  to  be  divorced — perhaps  she  was  thankful  to  escape 
with  her  head — and  desired  the  Duke  of  Cleves'  messenger 
"to  commend  her  to  her  brother,  and  say  she  was  merry 
and  well  entreated."  He  reported  of  her  that  she  said  this 
"  with  such  alacrity  and  pleasant  gesture,  that  he  might  well 
testify  that  he  found  her  not  miscontented.  After  she  had 
dined  she  sent  the  King  the  ring  delivered  unto  her  at  their 
pretended  marriage,  desiring  that  it  might  be  broken  in 
pieces  as  a  thing  which  she  knew  of  no  force  or  value." 
Henry  sent  her  many  gifts  and  tokens  "as  his  sister  and 
none  otherwise,"  and  told  her  that  she  was  to  be  the  first 
lady  in  the  realm  next  after  the  queen  and  the  king's 
children.  He  exhorted  her  to  be  "quiet  and  merry,"  and 
subscribed  himself  "your  loving  brother  and  friend."  After 
his  fifth  marriage  she  was  designated  as  "  the  old  Queen,  the 
King's  sister." 

The  French  ambassador,  in  a  letter  of  the  6th  August 
1 540,  wrote  : — 

"  The  King  being  lately  with  a  small  party  at  Hampton 
Court,  ten  miles  hence,  supped  at  Richmond  with  the 
Queen  that  was  so  merrily  that  some  thought  he  meant 
to  reinstate  her,  but  others  think  it  was  done  to  get 
her  consent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage,  and  make 
her  subscribe  what  she  had  said  thereupon,  which  is  not 
only  what  they  wanted,  but  also  what  she  thinks  they 
expected.  The  latter  opinion  is  the  more  likely,  as  the 
King  drew  her  apart,  in  company  with  the  three  first 
councillors  he  had,  who  are  not  commonly  called  in  to 
such  confidence." 

Marillac  goes  on  to  say  that  he  thinks  it  would  be  great 
inconsistency  to  take  her  back  now,  and  that  moreover  she 
did  not  sup  with  him  as  she  did  when  she  was  queen,  but  at 


42  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

another   table   adjoining   his,  as  other  ladies  who  are  not  of 
the  blood  do,  when  he  eats  in  company. 

On  the  1 5th  he  wrote  to  the  Duke  de  Montmorency : — 

"As  for  her  who  is  called  Madame  de  Cleves,  far  from 
pretending  to  be  distressed,  she  is  as  joyous  as  ever,  and 
wears  new  dresses  every  day,  which  argues  either  prudent 
dissimulation  or  stupid  forgetfulness  of  what  should  so 
closely  touch  her  heart.  Be  it  as  it  may,  it  has  thrown  the 
poor  ambassador  of  Cleves  into  a  fever,  who  sends  every  day 
to  ask  if  I  have  no  news  of  his  master." 

Even  if  Anne's  first  feeling  had  been  one  of  relief  that  a 
worse  fate  had  not  befallen  her,  her  gaiety  was  obviously 
forced,  and  no  doubt  the  lady  did  "protest  too  much," 
but  she  had  been  ordered  to  be  "quiet  and  merry,"  and  if 
after  such  a  mandate  she  had  ventured  to  put  on  a  sorrowful 
countenance,  or  to  express  a  vain  regret,  her  quondam 
husband  would  probably  have  been — such  was  his  disposition 
— less  flattered  by  the  compliment  than  irritated  by  the 
command  disobeyed.  And  so  she  prudently  accepted  her 
fate  and  "sate  like  patience  on  a  monument  smiling  at 
grief,"  as  it  afterwards  transpired,  and  in  her  efforts  to 
please,  imposed  upon  herself  what  must  have  been  the  most 
trying  ordeals. 

Her  marriage  had  taken  place  on  the  feast  of  the 
Epiphany,  1540,  and  in  July  of  the  same  year  Henry  was 
united  to  Katharine  Howard,  grand-daughter  of  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk.  This  young  woman's  reputation  was  already  so 
notoriously  bad,  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  king 
could  be  in  ignorance  of  the  fact.  Nevertheless,  for  the  time 
being,  he  was  deeply  in  love,  and  his  scruples  and  righteous 
anger  were  wont  to  come — afterwards.  Marillac  describes  the 
new  queen  "as  rather  graceful  than  beautiful,  and  of  short 
stature."  He  says  : — 

"  The  King  is  so  amorous  of  her  that  he'  cannot  treat  her 
well  enough,  and  caresses  her  more  than  he  did  the  others. 


.1.   II'.  Miuisi'll  <('  Co. 


KATHARINE  HOWARD  (Fifth  Wife  of  Henry  VIII.). 

From  a  Portrait  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery.      School  of  Holbein. 


[To  JMC  payi-  42. 


NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW  43 

She  and  all  the  Court  ladies  dress  in  the  French  style,  and 
her  device  is  Non  autre  volonte  que  la  sienne.  Madame  de 
Cleves  is  as  cheerful  as  ever,  as  her  brother's  ambassador 
says." 

But  others  besides  Anne  of  Cleves  had  reason  to  mourn, 
and  Melancthon  complained  that  atrocious  crimes  were 
reported  from  England,  that  the  divorce  with  the  lady  of 
Juliers  was  already  made,  and  another  married,  and  that 
"  good  men  of  our  opinion  in  religion  are  murdered." 

On  the  27th  September,  the  papal  nuncio  wrote  grimly  to 
Cardinal  Farnese,  that  "so  far"  the  King  of  England  was 
pleased  with  his  new  wife,  and  the  other,  "  sister  of  Cleeves 
has  retired  and  ' lives' "  Rumours,  however,  were  persistently 
current  that  Henry  intended  to  take  back  Anne,  until  in 
November,  Marillac  informed  his  master  that  the  new  queen 
had  "  completely  acquired  the  King's  grace,"  and  that  the  other 
was  "  no  more  thought  of  than  if  she  were  dead." 

But  Marillac  had  soon  reason  to  see  that  in  making  this 
statement  he  had  somewhat  exaggerated.  The  Princess  Mary 
seems  to  have  been  well  informed  of  the  loose  character  and 
behaviour  of  Katharine  Howard,  and  contrived  to  find  pretexts 
for  a  long  time  for  absenting  herself  from  court,  so  that  the 
queen  complained  to  Henry  that  his  daughter  did  not  treat 
her  with  the  respect  she  had  shown  to  the  two  former 
queens. 

But  Anne  of  Cleves  had  no  scruples  about  associating  with 
Katharine,  and  was  perhaps  keen  to  note  every  detail  concern- 
ing her  brilliant  rival,  who  had  been  more  successful  than  herself 
in  capturing  the  king's  roving  fancy.  She  was  probably  as 
much  in  the  dark  as  most  people,  as  to  the  politico-religious 
embarrassment  she  constituted. 

The  French  ambassador  gives  an  amusing  description  of 
her  New  Year's  visit  to  the  court : — 

"  Sire,  to  omit  nothing  that  may  be  written  about  this 
country,  Madame  Anne,  sister  of  the  Duke  of  Cleves,  formerly 


44  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Queen  of  England,  passed  the  recent  festivities  at  Richmond, 
four  miles  from  Hampton  Court,  to  which  place  the  King  and 
also  the  Queen  sent  her,  on  the  first  day  of  the  year,  rich 
presents  of  clothes,  plate  and  jewels,  valued  at  six  or  seven 
thousand  crowns.  And  on  the  second  day  she  was  summoned 
to  appear  at  Hampton  Court,  where  she  was  very  honourably 
conducted  by  several  of  the  nobility,  and  being  arrived,  the 
King  received  her  very  graciously,  as  did  also  the  Queen,  with 
whom  she  remained  nearly  the  whole  afternoon.  They  danced 
together,  and  seemed  so  happy  that  neither  did  the  new 
Queen  appear  to  be  jealous  or  afraid  that  the  other  had  come 
to  raise  the  siege,  as  it  was  rumoured,  nor  did  the  said  lady 
of  Cleves  show  any  sign  of  discontent  at  seeing  her  rival  in 
her  place.  Moreover,  Sire,  if  it  please  you  to  hear  the  end  of 
this  farce,  that  evening,  and  the  next,  the  two  ladies  supped 
at  the  King's  table  together,  although  the  lady  of  Cleves  sat 
a  little  backward,  in  a  corner,  where  the  Princess  of  England, 
Madame  Mary,  is  wont  to  be ;  and  the  following  day,  the 
said  lady  of  Cleves  returned  with  the  same  escort  to  Richmond, 
where  she  is  visited  by  all  the  personages  of  the  court,  which 
makes  people  think  she  is  about  to  be  reinstated  in  her 
former  position."1 

Eustace  Chapuys,  the  imperial  ambassador,  also  wrote  an 
account  of  this  strange  visit     He  says : — 

"On  the  3rd  [January  1541],  the  lady  Anne  of  Cleves  sent 
the  King  a  New  Year's  present  of  two  large  horses,  with 
violet  velvet  trappings,  and  presented  herself  at  Hampton 
Court,  with  her  suite,  accompanied  only  by  Lord  William, 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  brother,  who  happened  to  meet  her 
on  the  road  to  this  city.  She  was  received  by  the  Duchess 
of  Suffolk,  the  Countess  of  Hertford,  and  other  ladies,  who 
conducted  her  to  her  lodgings  and  then  to  the  Queen's  apart- 
ments. She  insisted  on  addressing  the  Queen  on  her  knees, 
for  all  the  Queen  could  say,  who  showed  her  the  utmost  kind- 
1  De  Marillac,  Correspondance  Politique,  p.  258 


NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW  45 

ness.  The  King  then  entered,  and  after  a  low  bow  to  Lady 
Anne,  embraced  and  kissed  her.  She  occupied  a  seat  near 
the  bottom  of  the  table  at  supper,  but  after  the  King  had 
retired,  the  Queen  and  Lady  Anne  danced  together,  and 
next  day  all  three  dined  together.  At  this  time  the  King 
sent  his  Queen  a  present  of  a  ring  and  two  small  dogs,  which 
she  passed  over  to  Lady  Anne.  That  day  Lady  Anne  returned 
to  Richmond."1 

The  public  rumour  of  the  likelihood  of  Anne's  restoration 
arose  probably  as  much  from  the  common  talk  of  the  queen's 
immoral  conduct  as  from  the  circumstance  of  Anne's  appear- 
ance at  court.  The  reports  at  length  reached  Katharine's 
ears,  and  it  was  possibly  her  accusing  conscience  that  betrayed 
itself  in  her  visible  depression  of  spirits. 

"  Some  days  ago  [wrote  Chapuys  to  the  Queen  of  Hungary 
on  6th  May  1541],  this  Queen  being  rather  sad,  the  King 
wished  to  know  the  cause,  and  she  said  it  was  owing  to  a 
rumour  that  he  was  going  to  take  back  Anne  of  Cleves.  The 
King  told  her  that  she  was  wrong  to  think  such  things,  and 
[that]  even  if  he  were  in  a  position  to  marry,  he  had  no  mind 
to  take  back  Anne ;  which  is  very  probable,  as  his  love  never 
returns  for  a  woman  he  has  once  abandoned.  Yet  many 
thought  he  would  be  reconciled  to  her  for  fear  of  the  King 
of  France  making  war  on  him  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Duke 
of  Cleves  and  the  King  of  Scotland." 

This  was  the  first  intimation  of  the  storm  that  was  soon 
to  burst  When  it  suited  Henry  to  give  ear  to  the  scandals 
afloat  about  the  queen,  his  grief  and  indignation,  or  what  it 
pleased  him  should  pass  for  such,  knew  no  bounds. 

The  palace  at  Hampton  Court  where  Katharine  was 
imprisoned,  was  so  strictly  guarded  that  none  but  certain 
officers  could  enter  or  leave  it.  The  Princess  Mary,  who 
had  spent  the  last  few  months  with  her  stepmother,  pre- 
senting a  strange  contrast  to  her  surroundings,  was  now 
1  Chapuys  to  the  Emperor  ;  Gairdner,  Cal.  16,  No.  436. 


46  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

sent  to  join  Prince  Edward,  and  her  father  announced 
that  he  was  heartbroken  at  the  queen's  immorality  and 
perfidy.  Anne  was  thought  by  Chapuys  to  rejoice  greatly 
at  Katharine's  fall,  but  her  execution  caused  little  com- 
ment throughout  the  country.  Either  the  nation  was 
indifferent  or  it  had  become  accustomed  to  the  disgrace  of 
queen  consorts. 

Marillac,  writing  to  Francis  I.  on  the  nth  November, 
says : — 

"  The  way  taken  is  the  same  as  with  Queen  Anne  who 
was  beheaded.  She  has  taken  no  kind  of  pastime,  but  kept 
in  her  chamber,  whereas,  before,  she  did  nothing  but  dance 
and  rejoice  ;  and  now  when  the  musicians  come,  they  are  told 
that  this  is  no  more  the  time  to  dance.  ...  As  to  whom 
the  King  will  take,  everyone  thinks  it  will  be  the  lady  he  has 
left,  who  has  conducted  herself  wisely  in  her  affliction,  and  is 
more  beautiful  than  she  was,  and  more  regretted  and  com- 
miserated than  Queen  Katharine  [of  Arragon]  was  in  like 
case.  Besides,  the  King  shows  no  inclination  to  any  other 
lady,  and  will  have  some  remorse  of  conscience,  and  no  man 
in  England  dare  suggest  one  of  such  quality  as  the  lady  in 
question,  for  fear,  if  she  were  repudiated  of  falling  en  quelque 
gros  inconvenient" 

The  imperial  ambassador  had,  it  is  seen,  estimated  Henry's 
character  more  correctly  than  Marillac  did,  for  as  to  "  remorse 
of  conscience,"  we  do  not  find  throughout  the  whole  length  of 
his  life  that  the  royal  miscreant  ever  made  an  attempt  to 
expiate  any  one  of  his  crimes,  or  to  make  amends  to  a  single 
individual  for  wrong  done. 

According  to  Marillac,  the  king  was  so  shocked  and 
grieved  at  Katharine's  behaviour,  that  he  proposed  never  to 
take  another  wife ;  but  when  it  was  suggested  that  in  spite  of 
her  outrageous  conduct  the  queen  might  possibly  escape  the 
punishment  of  death,  on  account  of  her  beauty  and  her  sweet- 
ness of  disposition,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  said  that  she  must  of 


NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW  47 

necessity  die,  because  the  king  could  not  marry  again  while 
she  lived. 

Francis  I.  does  not  seem  to  have  taken  his  envoy's  account 
of  Henry's  grief  very  seriously  (he  had  known  the  King  of 
England  longer  than  Marillac  had),  and  replied  with  some 
apparent  cheerfulness,  that  he  was  sorry  for  his  cousin's 
misfortune,  and  would  soon  send  a  gentleman  to  condole  with 
the  king. 

Chapuys,  as  usual,  had  with  greater  discernment,  hit  the 
more  probable  mean. 

"  This  King  has  wonderfully  felt  the  case  of  the  Queen,  his 
wife,  and  has  certainly  shown  greater  sorrow  at  her  loss  than 
at  the  fault,  loss,  or  divorce  of  his  preceding  wives.  It  is  like 
the  case  of  the  woman  who  cried  more  bitterly  at  the  loss  of 
her  tenth  husband  than  at  the  deaths  of  all  the  others  together, 
though  they  had  all  been  good  men  ;  but  it  was  because  she 
had  never  buried  one  of  them  before  without  being  sure  of  the 
next,  and  as  yet  it  does  not  seem  that  he  has  formed  any  new 
plan." 

Katharine  was  beheaded  on  the  i$th  October  1542,  on 
the  same  spot  on  the  Tower  Green  where  Anne  Boleyn  had 
been  executed.  Her  end,  and  that  of  Lady  Rochester  who 
had  encouraged  her  in  her  evil  life,  was  penitent,  and  even 
edifying.  After  the  execution  it  was  remarked  that  the  king 
was  in  better  spirits,  and  during  the  last  few  days  before 
Lent  there  was  much  feasting  at  Court. 

Chapuys  describes  the  state  of  affairs  thus  : — 

"  Sunday  was  given  up  to  the  Lords  of  his  Council,  and 
Court ;  Monday  to  the  men  of  law ;  and  Tuesday  to  the  ladies, 
who  all  slept  at  the  Court.  He  himself  in  the  morning  did 
nothing  but  go  from  room  to  room  to  order  lodgings  to  be 
prepared  for  these  ladies,  and  he  made  them  great  and  hearty 
cheer,  without  showing  particular  affection  to  any  one. 
Indeed,  unless  Parliament  prays  him  to  take  another  wife,  he 
will  not  I  think  be  in  a  hurry  to  marry  ;  besides,  few  if  any 


48  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

ladies  now  at  Court  would  aspire  to  such  an  honour,  for  a 
law  has  just  been  passed,  that  should  any  King  henceforth 
wish  to  marry  a  subject,  the  lady  will  be  bound  on  pain  of 
death  to  declare  if  any  charges  of  misconduct  can  be  brought 
against  her,  and  all  who  know  or  suspect  anything  of  the  kind 
against  her,  are  bound  to  reveal  it  within  twenty  days,  on  pain 
of  confiscation  of  goods  and  imprisonment  for  life." 

Perhaps  it  was  this  general  indictment  of  the  women  of 
Henry's  court,  most  certainly  the  echo  of  public  opinion,  that 
had  caused  the  people  to  persist  in  the  belief  that  Anne  of 
Cleves  would  regain  Katharine's  strangely  coveted  place. 
Where  the  reputation  of  a  whole  class  was  so  bad  as  to  make 
the  above  kind  of  declaration  impossible,  virtue,  such  as  that 
attributed  to  the  Lady  Anne,  was  at  a  premium,  and  as  it  was 
useless  to  think  of  a  suitable  foreign  alliance  in  the  state 
of  Henry's  religious  opinions,  justice  and  necessity  had  alike 
seemed  to  point  to  the  reinstatement  of  the  discarded  queen. 
But  Henry  was  exceedingly  annoyed  at  these  repeated 
suggestions  which,  forsooth,  had  almost  appeared  to  dictate 
to  him,  and  he  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  the  free  wagging 
of  tongues  on  the  subject  of  his  matrimonial  affairs. 

After  the  fall  of  Katharine  Howard,  and  before  her  exe- 
cution, a  State  Paper  records  that  Jane  Rattsay  was 
"  examined  of  her  words  to  Elizabeth  Bassett,  viz.,  '  What  if 
God  worketh  this  work  to  make  the  Lady  Anne  of  Cleves  queen 
again  ? '  She  answered  that  it  was  an  idle  saying  suggested 
by  Bassett's  '  praising  the  Lady  Anne,  and  dispraising  the 
Queen  that  now  is.'  She  declared  that  she  never  spoke  at 
any  other  time  of  the  Lady  Anne,  and  she  thought  the  King's 
divorce  from  her  good."  Examined  as  to  her  exclamation 
"  What  a  man  is  the  King  !  How  many  wives  will  he  have  ?  " 
she  answered  that  she  said  it  "  upon  the  sudden  tidings 
declared  to  her  by  Bassett,  when  she  was  sorry  for  the  change> 
and  knew  not  so  much  as  she  knows  now." 

But  for  all  Anne's  prudence,  and  the  bold  front  the  brave 


NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW  49 

woman  presented  to  her  misfortunes,  she  had  been  secretly 
hoping  that  when  the  inevitable  crash  came,  she  would  be 
restored  to  the  rights  which  she  had  only  renounced,  because 
she  had  no  alternative.  Henry,  however,  made  no  sign,  and 
in  1543  Katharine  Parr  appeared  on  the  scene.  The  first 
mention  of  the  king's  sixth  wife  in  the  public  records  is  a 
tailor's  bill  for  numerous  items  of  cotton,  linen,  buckram,  etc., 
and  the  making  of  Italian  gowns,  pleats,  and  sleeves,  kirtles, 
French,  Dutch,  and  Venetian  gowns,  Venetian  sleeves,  French 
hoods,  etc.,  of  various  materials,  the  total  amount  of  the  bill 
being  £8,  95.  5d.  This  bill  was  delivered  "to  my  Lady 
Latymer,"  and  was  copied  into  the  book  of  Skutt  the 
tailor. 

Katharine  Parr  had  been  first  married  as  a  mere  child 
to  the  old  Lord  Borough  of  Gainsborough,  and  had  been 
left  a  widow  before  she  was  seventeen.  She  then  married 
Lord  Latimer,  who  died  in  1543,  and  was  immediately 
sought  in  marriage  by  Sir  Thomas  Seymour,  brother  of  the 
king's  third  wife,  who  became  Lord  High  Admiral  in  Edward's 
reign.  Katharine  undoubtedly  intended  to  become  his  wife, 
but  as  she  afterwards  wrote,  her  "will  was  over-ruled  by  a 
higher  power." 

On  the  2Oth  June  of  the  same  year,  Lady  Latimer  and 
her  sister  Mrs  Herbert  were  at  court  "  with  my  Lady  Mary's 
Grace  and  my  Lady  Elizabeth,"  and  the  next  mention  of 
her  is  in  a  licence  of  Thomas,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
"authorised  thereto  by  parliament  to  Henry  VIII.  (who  has 
deigned  to  marry  the  Lady  Katharine,  late  wife  of  Lord 
Latimer  deceased)  to  have  the  marriage  solemnised  in  any 
church,  chapel,  or  oratory,  without  the  issue  of  banns."  It 
took  place  on  the  I2th  July  following,  in  an  upper  oratory 
called  the  Queen's  Privy  Closet,  within  the  honour  of  Hampton 
Court,  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  officiating. 

"Anne  of  Cleves  [wrote  Chapuys  to  Charles  V.],  would 
like  to  be  in  her  sherte  [shroud]  so  to  speak,  with  her  mother, 

D 


50  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

having  especially  taken  great  grief  and  despair  at  the  king's 
espousal  of  this  last  wife,  who  is  not  nearly  so  beautiful  as 
she,  besides  that  there  is  no  hope  of  issue,  seeing  that  she 
had  none  with  her  two  former  husbands." 

Others,  besides  the  poor,  discarded  Lady  Anne  were  also 
in  tribulation,  and  a  letter  from  one  of  the  Lutherans  in 
England  to  Henry  Bullinger,  the  reformer,  reports  that  "the 
king  has  within  these  two  months  burnt  three  godly  men 
in  one  day.  For  in  July  he  married  the  widow  of  a  nobleman 
named  Latimer,  and  he  is  always  wont  to  celebrate  his  nuptials 
by  some  wickedness  of  this  kind." 

But  Katharine  herself  was  glad  exceedingly,  and  told  Lord 
Parr  that  "  it  having  pleased  God  to  incline  the  king  to  take 
her  as  his  wife,  which  is  the  greatest  joy  and  comfort  that 
could  happen  to  her,  she  informs  her  brother  of  it  as  the 
person  who  has  most  cause  to  rejoice  thereat,  and  requires 
him  to  let  her  sometimes  hear  of  his  health,  as  friendly  as  if 
she  had  not  been  called  to  this  honour." 

Wriothesley,  in  forwarding  this  letter  from  the  queen, 
Lord  Parr's  "gracious  lady  and  kind  sister,"  doubts  not  but 
that  he  will  thank  God,  and  frame  himself  to  be  more  and 
more  an  ornament  to  Her  Majesty. 

The  marriage  was  in  every  way  satisfactory.  Katharine 
was  twenty-six,  about  one  year  younger  than  the  Lady  Mary, 
and  was  by  universal  fame  reported  "a  prudent,  beautiful, 
and  virtuous  lady."  The  royal  family  had  reason  to  be  grateful 
for  her  influence  over  the  king,  whom  she  persuaded  to 
restore  both  Mary  and  Elizabeth  to  their  rank.  To  Edward 
she  was  a  second  mother,  and  Henry  seems  to  have  looked 
upon  her  with  something  akin  to  respect,  appointing  her 
regent  when  he  crossed  the  Channel  to  invade  France 
in  1544. 

She  offended  him,  however,  on  one  occasion,  by  venturing  to 
express  a  difference  of  opinion  on  a  religious  question,  and  it 
was  said  that  articles  of  heresy  were  drawn  up  against  her.  "  A 


NOR  WIFE  NOR  WIDOW  51 

good  hearing  it  is,"  exclaimed  Henry,  "when  women  become 
such  clerks ;  and  a  thing  much  to  my  comfort  to  come  in 
mine  old  days  to  be  taught  by  my  wife !  Her  prudence  and 
tact  saved  her  life,  if  it  was  ever  seriously  in  danger." 

Henry's  sordid  tragedy  was  played  out  on  the  28th  January 
1547,  when  the  tyrant  breathed  his  last,  and  left  his  two 
wives  and  two  daughters  to  unravel  the  skein  which  he 
had  so  persistently  entangled  for  them.  Katharine  Parr  took 
her  fate  immediately  into  her  own  hands,  and  thirty-five  days 
after  Henry's  death,  secretly  married  her  former  admirer, 
Sir  Thomas,  now  Lord  Seymour,  who  was  described  by 
Hayward  as  "  fierce  in  courage,  courtly  in  fashion,  in  personage 
stately,  in  voice  magnificent,  but  somewhat  empty  in  matter." 
The  union  was  not  a  happy  one,  owing  mainly  to  Seymour's 
intrigues  with  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  a  circumstance  that  was 
thought  to  have  shortened  Katharine's  life.  The  ci-devant 
queen  died  at  Sudeley  Castle,  after  having  given  birth  to 
a  daughter,  in  August  1548,  aged  thirty^sjx. 

After  the  one  tragic  episode  in  her  life,  the  course  of 
Anne  of  Cleves  ran  smoothly  enough.  Mary  befriended  her 
always,  and  made  her  quondam  stepmother  a  prominent 
figure  at  her  coronation.  She  frequently  paid  her  visits,  and 
treated  her  with  all  the  respect  imaginable.  Anne  never  left 
England  after  her  ill-starred  arrival,  ending  her  days  peacefully 
in  1557- 


Ill 

A   NOTABLE   ENGLISHMAN 

WHILE  Edward's  Council  thought  that  they  had  effectually 
closed  every  issue  through  which  news  of  the  king's  death 
might  transpire,  before  their  seditious  plans  were  completed, 
the  Princess  Mary  was  already  on  her  way  into  Norfolk, 
calling  all  loyal  men  and  true  to  rally  round  her  standard 
Two  Norfolk  gentlemen  were  mainly  instrumental  in  placing 
her  on  the  throne.  These  were  Sir  Henry  Jerningham  and  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  of  Oxburgh, 
who  came  in  to  her  assistance  at  Framlingham,  with  140 
well-armed  men. 

Bedingfeld  proclaimed  the  queen  at  Norwich,  and  was 
afterwards  rewarded  for  his  loyalty  with  an  annual  pension 
of  £iOO  out  of  the  forfeited  estates  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt 
Mary  made  him  a  Privy  Councillor  and  Knight  Marshal  of 
her  army,  and  subsequently  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  of 
London  ;  and  Captain  of  the  Yeomen  of  the  Guard,  vice  Sir 
Henry  Jerningham.  She  appointed  him  custodian  of  Elizabeth, 
when  that  princess  was  confined  in  the  Tower  and  at  Wood- 
stock, on  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  Wyatt's  rebellion ; 
and  so  little  did  Elizabeth  resent  his  severity  during  the  time 
of  her  imprisonment,  that  after  her  accession,  she  addressed 
him  as  her  "trusty  and  well-beloved,"  employed  him  in 
her  service,  and  granted  to  him  the  manor  of  Caldecot  in 
Norfolk,  which  still  forms  part  of  the  Oxburgh  estate  at  the 
present  day. 

52 


SIR  HENRY  BEDINGFELD  (Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  of  London). 
From  a  Portrait  at  Oxburgh. 


[To  /ace  page  52. 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  53 

He  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  foremost  Englishmen  of 
his  day,  respected  by  two  sovereigns,  and  occupying  prominent 
and  honourable  positions,  his  loyalty  being  unimpeachable ; 
yet  Foxe,  the  martyrologist,  with  his  wonted  dishonesty,  has 
without  the  slightest  foundation,  and  so  effectually,  blackened 
his  fame,  that  almost  every  subsequent  writer  on  this  period 
has  reproduced  the  calumnies  set  forth  with  malice  prepense 
in  the  Acts  and  Monuments. 

Strype  was  the  first  unquestioning  copyist  of  Foxe  ;  Burnet 
was  the  second  ;  and  Sir  Reginald  Hennell  is  the  most  recent.1 

Tennyson,  in  his  dramatic  poem  Queen  Mary,  also  went 
to  Foxe  for  his  historical  data,  with  the  result  that,  while 
discarding  the  more  malicious  interpretation  of  Bedingfeld's 
character,  he  has,  nevertheless,  passed  on  to  posterity  a  coarse 
and  grotesque  caricature  as  though  it  were  a  portrait. 

A  fire  broke  out  at  Woodstock  in  May  1554,  and  Tennyson 
choosing  to  suppose  that  Elizabeth  suspected  foul  play,  invented 
the  following  absurd  dialogue : — 

LADY. 

I  woke  Sir  Henry — and  he's  true  to  you — 
I  read  his  honest  horror  in  his  eyes. 

ELIZABETH. 
Or  true  to  you  ? 

LADY. 

Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld ! 
I  will  have  no  man  true  to  me,  your  Grace, 
But  one  that  pares  his  nails  ;  to  me  ?  the  clown  ! 
For  like  his  cloak,  his  manners  want  the  nap 
And  gloss  of  court ;  but  of  this  fire  he  says, 
Nay  swears,  it  was  no  wicked  wilfulness, 
Only  a  natural  chance. 

ELIZABETH. 

A  chance — perchance 

One  of  those  wicked  wilfuls  that  men  make, 
Nor  shame  to  call  it  nature. 

1  In  his  volume  The  History  of  the  King's  Bodyguard  of  the  Yeomen  of 
the  Guard" 


54  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

At  the  end  of  a  long  speech  Elizabeth  cries 
God  save  the  Queen.     My  jailor — 
BEDINGFELD. 

One,  whose  bolts, 

That  jail  you  from  free  life,  bar  you  from  death. 
There  haunt  some  Papist  ruffians  hereabout 
Would  murder  you. 

ELIZABETH. 

I  thank  you  heartily,  sir, 
But  I  am  royal,  tho'  your  prisoner, 
And  God  hath  blest  or  cursed  me  with  a  nose — 
Your  boots  are  from  the  horses. 

This  libel  did  not,  however,  pass  unchallenged,  and  the  father 
of  the  present  baronet  wrote  to  the  Poet  Laureate  the  following 
protest : — 

"  SlR, — As  a  great  admirer  of  your  genius,  I  eagerly  read 
your  drama  Queen  Mary,  but  was  so  surprised  and  pained  at 
the  ignoble  part  which  is  allotted  to  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld, 
that  I  cannot  refrain  from  addressing  you  on  the  subject.  I 
feel  justified  in  doing  so,  as  I  am  the  direct  descendant  of  Sir 
Henry,  and  date  from  the  house  which  was  his  home. 

"The  millions  who  will  read  Mary  Tudor,  or  witness  the 
play  on  the  stage,  will  carry  away  the  impression  that  my 
ancestor  was  a  vulgar  yeoman,  in  some  way  connected  with 
the  stables,  whereas  he  was  a  man  of  ancient  lineage,  a 
trusted  friend  and  servant  of  the  queen,  who  confided  to  him 
in  time  of  danger  the  Lieutenancy  of  the  Tower,  and  the 
custody  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth.  This  princess  so  respected 
Sir  Henry,  that  although  she  complained  of  his  severity 
during  her  captivity,  she  visited  him  at  Oxburgh  after  her 
accession  to  the  throne,  and  treated  him  with  the  greatest 
consideration.  Numerous  documents  in  my  possession,  in- 
cluding letters  from  the  Sovereign,  from  the  Privy  Council, 
and  from  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  time,  would  prove, 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  55 

were    such    proof    required,  the   high    position    held    by    Sir 
Henry. 

"  I  trust,  therefore,  to  your  feeling  of  justice  that  you  will, 
if  possible,  either  strike  out  Sir  Henry's  name  from  future 
editions,  or  allot  to  him  a  more  dignified  part  on  the  stage, 
and  one  which  will  convey  a  more  correct  view  of  his  character 
and  position. — I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"HENRY  BEDINGFELD." 

Tennyson's  answer  to  the  above,  dated  from  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  six  months  later,  though  courteous,  left  the  matter 
almost  where  it  was,  so  far  as  historical  accuracy  was 
secured : — 

"SIR, — Your  letter  arrived  when  I  was  abroad,  else  would 
have  been  answered  at  once ;  and  therefore  I  waited  till  the 
play  should  be  announced  for  acting.  I  had  made  your  ancestor 
an  honest  gentleman  though  a  rough  one,  as  I  found  him 
reported  to  be,  whether  true  or  no;  and  I  regret  that  you 
should  have  been  pained  by  my  representation  of  him.  Now, 
in  deference  to  your  wishes,  his  name  is  not  once  mentioned 
on  the  stage,  and  he  is  called  in  the  play-bill  merely  '  Governor 
of  Woodstock.'  Moreover,  I  have  inserted  a  line  in  Elizabeth's 
part :  '  But,  girl,  you  wrong  a  noble  gentleman.' — I  have  the 
honour  to  be,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"A.  TENNYSON." 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  best  intention  on  the  part  of  the 
author,  the  American  edition  of  the  play,  priding  itself  on 
being  "the  only  unmutilated  version,"  preserves  the  exact 
wording  of  the  poem.1  Thus  has  history  ever  been  medicated 
to  suit  the  prejudices  of  the  uncritical  and  the  ignorant. 

Sir    Henry  Bedingfeld,  who  was   born   in  the   year   1509, 

1  De  Witt's  acting  plays,  No,  181,  Queen  Afary ;  a  drama,  Edited  by 
John  M-  Kingdom, 


56  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

was  the  grandson  of  Sir  Edmund  Bedingfeld,  the  favourite  of 
three  successive  kings,  Edward  IV.,  Richard  III.,  and  Henry 
VII.  This  same  Sir  Edmund  had  served  in  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses,  and  Edward  IV.,  by  letters  patent  of  the  twenty-second 
year  of  his  reign,  granted  to  him,  "for  his  faithful  service, 
licence  to  build  towers,  walls,  and  such  other  fortifications  as 
he  pleased  in  his  manors  of  Oxburgh,  together  with  a  market 
there  weekly,  and  a  court  of  pye-powder."  He  also  bestowed  on 
him  his  own  royal  badge  the  Falcon  and  Fetterlock.  Richard 
III.  made  him  a  Knight  of  the  Bath,  and  Henry  VII.  visited 
him  at  Oxburgh.  In  the  third  year  of  his  reign  this  king 
granted  three  manors  in  Yorkshire,  Wold,  Newton,  and 
Gaynton  to  him  and  his  heirs  male  for  ever,  in  return  for 
his  help  in  crushing  the  rebellion  in  the  north,  which  patent 
was  renewed  and  confirmed  by  Henry  VIII.  Sir  Edmund 
died  in  1496,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  only  son,  another 
Edmund,  who  attended  Henry  VIII.  in  his  foreign  wars,  and 
was  knighted  for  valour  by  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk, 
on  the  battle-field,  after  the  taking  of  Montdidier  in  1523. 
The  king  appointed  him  steward  to  Katharine  of  Arragon  at 
Kimbolton.  He  married  Grace,  daughter  of  Henry,  Lord 
Marny,  and  by  her  had  four  sons,  Henry,  Edmund,  Anthony, 
and  Humphrey.  Henry,  who  succeeded  him  in  1533,  was 
the  famous  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  and  the  "  jailor  "  of  the 
Princess  Elizabeth.  Henry's  wife  was  Katharine,  daughter  of 
Sir  Roger  Townshend,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  and  ancestor  of  the  present  Marquis  Town- 
shend. 

Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  kept  up  some  state  at  Oxburgh, 
having  twenty  servants  in  livery,  besides  those  employed  in 
husbandry.  When  he  was  away  on  the  queen's  business,  the 
management  of  his  estate  devolved  on  Dame  Katharine,  and 
a  letter  from  this  lady  addressed  "To  the  right  worshipful, 
my  very  good  husband,"  and  dated  Oxburgh,  October  1554, 
is  a  compte  rendu  of  all  she  had  done  for  his  property 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  57 

during  his  absence.  This  document  which  has  had  a 
chequered  career,  has  lately,  with  some  others,  found  its  way 
back  to  the  Oxburgh  archives.  Another,  the  draft  of  which 
has  lately  been  discovered  among  the  muniments  of  this 
venerable  old  house,  strikes  a  more  pathetic  note,  and  testifies, 
to  the  affectionate  dependence  with  which  Lady  Bedingfeld 
leaned  on  her  lord. 

"  Lady  Bedingfeld  to  the  lords  of  the  Council,  praying  to  Jiave 
her  husband  with  Jur  during  tier  confinement : — 

"MY  LORDS, — Being  very  near  the  time  of  my  being 
brought  to  bed,  and  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  in  the  country,  who 
is  very  tender  in  giving  any  offence  to  the  Queen's  Majesty, 
this  is  humbly  to  beg  your  Lordships  will  be  pleased  to  con- 
firm the  order  as  he  may  have  leave  to  be  with  me  till  the 
time  of  my  approaching  danger  be  over,  and  I  shall  acknow- 
ledge it  as  a  very  great  favour  done  to  your  Lordships'  most 
humble  servant." 

On  the  reverse  side  of  this  draft  is  a  recipe  for  "Lime 
drinks  against  the  King's  Evil,  or  any  sharp  humours." 

Although  a  man  does  not  necessarily  write  himself  down 
angel  or  devil,  it  is  true  of  most  people  that  their  correspond- 
ence is  a  fair  indication  of  their  character,  tastes,  and  habits. 
The  letters  written  by  and  addressed  to  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld 
reveal  him  as  of  the  usual  type  of  country  gentlemen  of  the 
period,  interested  in  sport  and  agriculture,  but  having  also 
some  experience  of  soldiering.  He  could  be  counted  on  to 
raise  a  troop  of  horse  or  foot  in  an  emergency,  provided  it 
were  in  the  service  of  the  lawful  sovereign.  He  made  it  his 
business  to  become  acquainted  with  the  condition  of  Marsh- 
land, in  order  to  account  to  the  queen  for  the  fealty  of  those 
around  him ;  and  Elizabeth,  no  less  than  Mary,  knew  that 
she  could  rely  on  him  to  uphold  her  authority  in  the  eastern 
counties.  His  letters  to  Mary  show  that  notwithstanding  his, 


58  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

frankness,  and  his  freedom  from  diplomatic  subtlety,  his 
manners  did  not  lack  the  polish  of  the  courtier.  In  the 
fulfilment  of  his  charge  he  was  ever  prudent,  cautious,  and 
almost  timid  in  the  matter  of  accepting  responsibility ;  in  no 
sense  covetous  of  office,  he  was  yet  so  scrupulous  in  the  dis- 
charge of  duty,  that  he  scarcely  ever  acted  on  his  own 
judgment  if  he  could  possibly  wring  instructions  from  the 
Privy  Council.  His  loyalty,  uprightness,  courtesy,  and 
modesty,  stood  him  in  lieu  of  more  brilliant  parts,  and  his 
severity  was  at  all  times  tempered  by  that  quality  of  mercy 
which  "  is  not  strained."  To  all  this  must  be  added  his  fidelity 
to  his  religion  in  difficult  and  dangerous  times. 

His  life  after  Mary's  accession,  to  which  he  had  materially 
contributed,  falls  naturally  into  three  parts:  I.  The  period 
during  which  he  had  the  care  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth. 
2.  His  term  of  office  as  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower.  3.  The 
twenty-five  years  after  Mary's  death,  which  he  spent  for  the 
most  part  in  retirement  in  Norfolk. 

On  the  1 8th  March  1554,  this  portentous  missive  was 
delivered  to  him  : — 

"  My  duty  remembered,  these  shall  be  to  advise  you  that 
on  Friday  my  lady  Elizabeth  was  sent  to  the  Tower  at  10  of 
the  clock.  The  Parliament  shall  be  holden  at  Westminster 
on  the  day  aforesaid ;  and  the  Queen  is  in  good  health, 
thanks  be  to  God,  who  preserve  you  in  much  worship.  This 
Good  Friday  riding  by  the  way. — Your  servant  to  command, 

"THOMAS  WATERS. 

"  To  the  right  worshipful  Sir  Henry  Bedyngfeld  give 
these,  written  in  haste." 

The  causes  of  Elizabeth's  arrest  were  far-reaching.  Circum- 
stantial evidence  of  her  connection  with  Wyatt's  rebellion  was 
not  wanting,  and  if  Mary  had  been  willing  to  have  her  sister 
convicted  on  that  evidence  alone,  her  head  would  undoubtedly 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  59 

have  fallen  on  the  block.  Elizabeth  herself  in  numerous  in- 
stances caused  blood  to  flow  on  far  less  certain  grounds.  But 
her  guilt  could  not  otherwise  be  brought  home,  and  in  her  first 
Parliament  Mary  had  restored  the  ancient,  constitutional  law 
of  England,  by  which  overt  or  spoken  acts  of  treason  must 
be  proved,  before  any  •  English  person  could  be  convicted  as 
a  traitor. 

The  case  against  Elizabeth  was  this.  The  French  Ambas- 
sador, de  Noailles,  whose  instructions  were  that  he  should  play 
upon  the  popular  discontent  in  regard  to  the  queen's  proposed 
marriage  to  Philip  of  Spain,  in  the  interest  of  France, 
encouraged  Elizabeth  to  associate  herself  with  the  factious, 
and  to  become,  as  it  were,  the  stalking-horse  of  the  disaffected. 
She  was  far  too  clever  to  commit  herself  to  any  direct  act  of 
rebellion,  but  de  Noailles  was  prodigal  of  her; name  in  all  the 
intrigues  that  he  fostered,  and  the  plot  organised  by  means 
of  Sir  Peter  Carew,  in  Devonshire  and  Cornwall,  had  for  its 
declared  object  the  marriage  of  Elizabeth  to  Courtenay,  Earl 
of  Devon,  and  the  placing  of  these  two  on  the  throne.  Sir 
Thomas  Wyatt  had  meanwhile  raised  the  standard  of  revolt 
in  the  home  counties,  but  before  leaving  London  for  that 
purpose,  he  had  written  a  letter  to  Elizabeth,  urging  her  for 
greater  safety  to  retire  to  her  castle  of  Donnington.  This 
letter  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Council,  as  did  also  three 
letters  from  de  Noailles  to  the  French  king,  directly  implicating 
Elizabeth  in  the  insurrection,  and  a  copy  of  the  letter  which  she 
had  written  to  Mary,  refusing  on  the  plea  of  illness  to  obey 
the  queen's  summons  to  the  Court.  Lord  Russell  confessed 
to  having  carried  communications  between  the  princess  and 
Wyatt,  and  that  traitor,  being  brought  to  trial,  owned  that 
the  object  of  his  rising  was  to  secure  the  crown  for  Elizabeth 
and  Courtenay.  He  subsequently  repeated  the  statement, 
adding  that  the  French  king  had  promised  them  men  and 
money,  and  was  to  attack  Calais  and  Guisnes  the  moment 
the  rebels  were  in  possession  of  London,  Whether  he  really 


60  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

withdrew  this  accusation  of  Elizabeth  on  the  scaffold  must 
always  remain  doubtful,  the  testimony  of  the  sheriffs  being  in 
direct  contradiction  to  that  of  Lord  Chandos,  who  was  also 
present 

It  was  not  until  Wyatt  had  formerly  declared  Elizabeth  to 
be  conspiring  with  Henry  II.  of  France,  that  Mary  was  at 
length  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  securing  her  person.  She 
repeated  her  summons,  but  not,  as  Foxe  would  have  us  believe, 
with  inconsiderate  cruelty  and  rough  haste.  Elizabeth's  uncle, 
Admiral  Lord  William  Howard,  Sir  Edward  Hastings,  and 
Sir  Thomas  Cornwallis,  were  sent  to  escort  her  from  Ashridge 
to  Westminster,  with  two  physicians  who  were  to  decide 
whether  she  were  well  enough  to  travel.  She  was  treated 
with  uniform  courtesy  and  consideration,  and  the  journey  of 
thirty-three  miles,  originally  intended  to  occupy  five  days,  was 
actually  made  to  cover  a  whole  week.  The  imperial  ambassador 
thus  describes  her  arrival : l — 

"  The  lady  Elizabeth  arrived  here  yesterday,  clad  completely 
in  white,  surrounded  by  a  great  assemblage  of  servants  of  the 
Queen,  besides  her  own  people.  Her  countenance  was  pale, 
her  look  proud,  lofty,  and  superbly  disdainful,  an  expression 
which  she  assumed  to  disguise  the  mortification  she  felt  The 
Queen  declined  seeing  her,  and  caused  her  to  be  accommodated 
in  a  quarter  of  her  palace  from  which  neither  she  nor  her 
servants  could  go  out  without  passing  through  the  guards. 
Of  her  suite,  only  two  gentlemen,  six  ladies,  and  four  servants 
are  permitted  to  wait  on  her,  the  rest  of  her  train  being 
lodged  in  the  city  of  London.  The  queen  is  advised  to  send 
her  to  the  Tower,  since  she  is  accused  by  Wyatt,  named  in 
the  letters  of  the  French  ambassador,  suspected  by  her  own 
councillors,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  enterprise  was  under- 
taken in  her  favour."  2 

1  State  Papers  (Domestic),  1554,  vol.  xxi. ;  R.O. 

2  Record  Office  Transcripts  (Belgian  Archives),  printed  by  Tytler  in  his 
England  under  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI.  and  Mary. 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  61 

When  charged  with  complicity  in  the  plot,  Elizabeth  replied 
that  she  knew  nothing  of  it.  The  members  of  the  Council 
were  divided  concerning  her,  some  maintaining  that  the  legal 
proof  against  her  was  insufficient  to  justify  her  being  sent  to 
the  Tower,  while  others  were  for  giving  her  short  shrift. 
Mary  availed  herself  of  this  loophole,  and  caused  each  lord 
of  the  Council  in  succession  to  be  asked  to  undertake  the 
custody  of  the  princess  in  his  own  house.  Not  one  was 
willing  to  accept  the  perilous  office,  and  a  warrant  was  there- 
fore made  out  for  her  committal.  There  was  a  very  general 
impression  at  the  time,  that  her  life  would  have  been  in  danger, 
but  for  Mary's  determination  that  the  law  should  not  be 
infringed  at  her  trial.  Nothing  could  be  adduced  that  was 
not  already  known,  and  in  spite  of  the  emperor's  reiterated 
demands  for  her  execution,  Mary  would  not  have  her  convicted 
on  the  only  evidence  obtainable. 

It  was  for  Elizabeth's  greater  safety  that  the  queen 
appointed  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  to  be  her  custodian,  and 
Foxe's  absurd  description  of  Bedingfeld's  arrival  with  his 
hundred  soldiers  in  blue-coats,  and  Elizabeth's  terror  at  the 
sight,  is  manifestly  a  fabrication  of  the  martyrologist's  brain. 
We  have  already  had  a  glimpse  of  Sir  Henry's  antecedent 
history.  He  had  materially  contributed  to  Mary's  triumph 
over  her  enemies,  and  may  be  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
main  instruments  in  placing  the  Queen  on  the  throne ;  he  was 
a  distinguished  member  of  her  Privy  Council,  therefore  a  public 
personage,  and  it  is  inconceivable  that  Elizabeth  should  have 
asked  who  he  was,  as  being  "  a  man  unknown  to  her  Grace," 
or  that  her  attendants  and  friends  should  have  answered  that 
"  they  were  ignorant  what  manner  of  man  he  was."  Foxe 
himself  had  betaken  himself  to  foreign  parts  on  Mary's  accession, 
and  may  perhaps  be  pardoned  for  not  knowing,  although  we 
find  it  hard  to  forgive  him  for  the  baseless  fabrication  by 
which  he  sought  to  discredit  the  queen  and  all  those  who 
served  her  faithfully. 


02  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

"  About  that  time,"  romances  Foxe,  "  it  was  spread  abroad 
that  her  Grace  should  be  carried  from  thence  by  this  new  jolly 
Captain  and  his  soldiers  ;  but  whither  it  could  not  be  learned, 
which  was  unto  her  a  great  grief,  especially  for  that  such  a 
company  was  appointed  to  her  guard,  requesting  rather  to 
continue  there  still,  than  to  be  led  thence  with  such  a  sort 
of  rascals.  At  last  plain  answer  was  made  by  the  Lord 
Chandos,  that  there  was  no  remedy  but  from  thence  she  must 
needs  depart  to  the  manor  of  Woodstock." 

He  goes  on  to  say  that  on  iQth  May  she  was  removed 
from  the  Tower,  "  where  Sir  Henry  Benifield  [being  appointed 
her  jailor]  did  receive  her  with  a  company  of  rake-hells  to 
guard  her,  besides  the  Lord  Derby's  band,  wafting  in  the 
country  about  for  moonshine  in  the  water.  Unto  whom  at 
length  came  my  Lord  of  Thame,  joined  in  commission  with 
the  said  Sir  Henry  for  the  safeguarding  of  her  to  prison,  and 
they  together  conveyed  her  Grace  to  Woodstock,  as  hereafter 
followeth.  The  first  day  they  conducted  her  to  Richmond, 
where  she  continued  all  night,  being  restrained  of  her  own 
men  which  were  laid  in  out-chambers,  and  Sir  Henry  Benifield's 
soldiers  appointed  in  their  rooms  to  give  attendance  on  her 
person.  Whereat  she  being  marvellously  dismayed,  thinking 
verily  some  secret  mischief  to  be  a-working  towards  her,  called 
her  gentleman-usher,  and  desired  him  with  the  rest  of  his 
company  to  pray  for  her.  '  For  this  night,'  quoth  she,  '  I  think 
to  die.'  Wherewith,  he  being  stricken  to  the  heart,  said, '  God 
forbid  that  any  such  wickedness  should  be  pretended  against 
your  Grace.'  So  comforting  her  as  well  as  he  could,  at  last 
he  burst  out  into  tears,  and  went  from  her  down  into  the 
court,  where  were  talking  the  Lord  Thame  and  Sir  Henry 
Benifield." 

We  may  now  dismiss  Foxe  and  his  egregious  insinuations 
of  foul  play,  together  with  his  monstrous  inventions  of 
boorishness  on  the  part  of  Elizabeth's  custodian.  In  spite 
of  his  calumnies,  it  remains  perfectly  clear  that  Elizabeth  had 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  63 

every  reason  to  be  thankful  that  her  "  jailor  "  was  faithful  to  his 
trust,  and  that  firmness  and  caution,  rather  than  weak 
indulgence,  characterised  all  his  conduct  towards  her.  As  for 
his  alleged  want  of  courtesy  towards  her,  there  is  not  a  shadow 
of  evidence  to  support  it ;  he  frequently  knelt  to  address  her, 
and  even  in  speaking  or  writing  of  her,  maintained  the  same 
deferential  mode  of  expression  as  that  which  he  used  in  her 
presence. 

Each  incident  of  the  journey  from  the  Tower  to  Wood- 
stock is  detailed  in  Sir  Henry's  report  to  the  Privy  Council. 
Elizabeth  apparently  seized  every  opportunity  of  making  his 
difficult  task  yet  more  difficult ;  but  wayward  and  imperious 
as  her  temper  often  was,  nothing  in  his  demeanour  towards 
her  ever  approached  to  disrespect  or  even  impatience.  Even 
she  herself  brought  no  other  complaint  against  her  custodian 
than  that  of  "  scrupulousness "  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty, 
a  charge  which  is  in  itself  a  magnificent  vindication,  for  the 
Elizabeth  of  history  was  not  one  to  forgive  a  man  who  had 
failed  in  the  smallest  degree  to  pay  her  the  homage  due  to 
her  rank.  Moreover,  in  regard  to  Sir  Henry's  soldiers,  no 
single  instance  is  recorded  on  either  side  of  misbehaviour  or 
want  of  decorum  on  their  part. 

In  his  first  letter  to  the  queen  after  their  arrival  at  Wood- 
stock, Sir  Henry  says : — 

"  My  lady  Elizabeth's  Grace  did  use  [?  peruse]  the  letter 
which  your  Highness  sent  her,  wherein  she  was  right  weary, 
to  my  judgment,  the  occasion  rising  of  the  stark  style  of  the 
same  letter,  being  warpen  and  cast.  This  present  day  she 
hath  not  been  very  well  at  ease,  as  your  Highness's  women 
did  declare  unto  me,  and  yet  at  the  afternoon  she  required  to 
walk,  and  see  another  lodging  in  the  house.  In  the  which, 
and  other  her  like  requests,  I  am  marvellously  perplexed  to 
grant  her  desire,  or  to  say  nay,  seeing  it  hath  been  your 
Highness's  pleasure  to  remove  her  person  from  and  out  of  the 


64  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Tower  of  London  where  I  was  led  to  do  upon  more  certainty 
by  the  precedent  of  ray  good  Lord  Chamberlain  [Sir  John 
Gage]  and  also  by  certain  articles,  by  me  exhibited  unto  my 
lords  of  the  Council  and  by  them  ordered,  which  were  to  me 
a  perfect  rule  at  that  time,  and  now  is  very  hard  to  be  observed 
in  this  place.  Wherefore  I  most  lowly  and  heartily  do  desire 
your  Highness  to  give  me  authority  and  order  in  writing  from 
your  Majesty  or  your  Council,  how  to  demean  myself  in  this 
your  Highness's  service,  whereby  I  shall  be  the  more  able  to  do 
the  same,  and  also  receive  comfort  and  heart's  ease  to  be  your 
Highness's  daily  beadsman  to  God  for  persuasion  of  your 
most  princely  and  sovereign  estate  long  to  endure  to  God's 
honour. 

"The  21  of  May,  I554."1 

In  answer  to  this  letter  the  Council  wrote  approving  his 
doings,  and  thanking  Sir  Henry  on  the  part  of  the  queen.  A 
number  of  instructions  for  his  further  conduct  were  also 
sent,  the  purport  of  which  will  be  gathered  from  his 
reply  :— 

"  My  letter  answering  to  the  former ;  the  Council's  letters. 

"  So  it  is,  most  honourable  lords,  that  upon  the  return  of 
my  brother  Humphrey,  I  received  instructions  signed  with  the 
Queen's  Majesty's  hand,  and  enclosed  in  a  letter  signed  by 
your  Lordships  as  a  warrant  to  direct  my  service  how  to  be 
used  during  the  Queen's  Majesty's  pleasure,  trusting  only 
in  God  to  make  me  able  to  do  and  accomplish  the  same. 

1  This  and  the  next  following  letters  are  taken  from  the  fourth  volume 
of  the  publications  of  the  Norfolk  and  Norwich  Archaeological  Society, 
State  Papers  relating  to  the  custody  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  at  Woodstock 
in  1554,  being  letters  between  Queen  Mary  and  her  Privy  Council  and 
Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld,  Knight,  of  Oxburgh,  Norfolk,  communicated  by  the 
Rev.  C.  R.  Manning,  M.A.,  Hon.  Sec.  The  originals  were  formerly  in 
Mr  Manning's  possession,  but  have  now  disappeared  The  present  writer 
has  modernised  the  spelling. 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  65 

I  travail  and  shall  do  to  the  best  of  my  power  till  God  and  her 
Highness  shall  otherwise  dispose  for  me,  wishing  that  shortly 
it  should  come  to  pass,  if  it  may  so  stand  with  her  Highness's 
good  contentation  and  your  honour.  As  touching  the  fifth 
article,  which  purported  this  in  effect  that  I  should  not  suffer 
the  lady  Elizabeth's  Grace  to  have  conference  with  any  suspect 
person  out  of  my  hearing,  that  she  do  not  by  any  means  either 
receive  or  send  any  message,  letter  or  token,  to  or  from  any 
manner  of  person,  which,  under  your  honourable  corrections, 
I  must  thus  answer  to  that,  as  touching  conference  with 
suspected  persons,  if  your  Lordships  mean  strangers,  and  such 
as  be  not  daily  attending  upon  her  person  by  your  assents  and 
privities,  with  the  help  above  said,  I  dare  take  upon  me  that 
to  do.  But  if  you  mean  general  conference  with  all  persons, 
as  well  within  her  house  as  without,  I  shall  beseech  you  of 
pardon,  for  that  I  dare  not  take  upon  me,  nor  yet  for  message, 
letter  or  token,  which  may  be  conveyed  by  any  of  the  three 
women  of  her  privy  chamber,  her  two  grooms  of  the  same  or 
the  yeomen  of  the  robes,  all  which  persons  and  none  others 
be  with  her  Grace  at  her  going  to  her  lodging,  and  part  of  them 
all  night,  and  until  such  time  as  her  grace  cometh  to  her  dining- 
chamber,  the  grooms  always  after  going  abroad  within  the 
house,  having  full  opportunity  to  do  such  matter  as  is  pro- 
hibited. And  hereunto  I  beseech  your  honours  ask  my  Lord 
Chamberlain  whether  it  will  be  within  possibility  for  me  to  do 
it  or  no,  whose  order  in  all  things  I  have  and  do,  according 
to  my  poor  wit  and  endeavour  put  in  use;  and  upon  his 
declaration  to  direct  order  possible.  At  the  present  writing 
hereof  one  Marbery,  my  lady  Grace's  servant,  brought  his 
wife,  Elizabeth  Marbery,  to  have  been  received  to  have 
wait  upon  her  Grace,  in  the  stead  of  Elizabeth  Sands,  and 
because  I  received  no  manner  of  warrant  from  you  my 
Lords,  to  do  it,  I  have  required  the  said  Marbery  to  stay  him- 
self and  his  wife  hereabouts,  till  I  might  receive  the  same, 
which  I  pray  you  to  do  with  all  speed,  for  they  been 

E 


r>6  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

very  poor  folks,  and  unable  to  bear  their  own  charge  as  I 
perceive. 

"  Her  Grace,  thanks  be  to  God,  continueth  in  reasonable 
health  and  quietness,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive  ;  but  she  claimeth 
promise  of  the  mouth  of  my  Lords  Treasurer  and  Chamberlain 
to  have  the  liberty  of  walk  within  the  whole  park  of  Woodstock. 
This,  she  hath  caused  to  come  to  mine  ear  by  my  Lady  Gray, 
but  never  spoke  of  it  to  me  by  express  words.  .  .  .  Her  Grace 
hath  not  hitherto  made  any  request  to  walk  in  any  other  place 
than  in  the  over  and  nether  gardens  with  the  orchard,  which, 
if  she  happens  to  do,  I  must  needs  answer  I  neither  dare  nor 
will  assent  unto  it,  till  by  the  Queen's  Highness  and  your 
honours  I  be  authorised  that  to  do.  .  .  .  Cornwallis,  the  gentle- 
man-usher, did  move  me  to  assent  that  the  cloth  of  estate  should 
be  hanged  up  for  her  Grace,  whereunto  I  directly  said  nay,  till 
your  Lordships'  pleasures  were  known  therein. 

"Postscript. — There  was  some  peril  of  fire  within  the  house, 
which  we  have  without  any  loss  to  be  regarded,  escaped. 
Thanks  be  to  God." 

In  answer  to  the  above  the  Council  thanked  and  com- 
mended Sir  Henry  for  all  that  hej  had  hitherto  done, 
adding : — 

"Where  ye  desire  to  be  resolved  of  certain  doubts  which 
you  gather  upon  your  instructions,  ye  shall  understand  that 
although  we  well  know  ye  cannot  meet  such  inconvenience 
as  may  happen  by  those  that  attend  upon  the  lady  Elizabeth, 
in  bringing  unto  her  letters,  messages  or  tokens,  yet  if  ye 
shall  use  your  diligence  and  wisdom  there  as  ye  shall  see 
cause,  it  shall  be  your  sufficient  discharge.  As  for  strangers, 
ye  must  foresee  that  no  persons  suspect  have  any  conference 
with  her  at  all,  and  yet  to  permit  such  strangers  whom  ye 
shall  think  honest  and  not  suspicious,  upon  any  reasonable 
cause  to  speak  with  her  in  your  hearing  only.  As  for  placing 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN 

Elizabeth  Marbery  in  lieu  of  Sands,  letters  be  already  sent 
from  the  Queen's  Highness  unto  you  therefore,  which  we 
pray  you  to  see  executed  accordingly.  Where  she  claimeth 
promise  of  the  Lord  Treasurer  and  me  the  Lord  Chamberlain 
to  walk  in  the  park,  as  we  have  heard  nothing  before  this 
time  thereof,  so  do  not  I  the  Lord  Chamberlain  remember 
any  such  promise." 

The  queen's  letter  was  as  follows : — 

"  MARYE  THE  QUENE.  By  the  Quene. 

"Trusty  and  right  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  And 
where  we  be  informed  that  Sands,  one  of  the  women  presently 
attending  about  our  sister  the  Lady  Elizabeth,  is  a  person  of 
an  evil  opinion,  and  not  fit  to  remain  about  our  said  sister's 
person,  we  let  you  wit,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  you  shall 
travail  with  our  said  sister,  and  by  the  best  means  ye  can 
persuade  her  to  be  contented  to  have  the  said  Sands  removed 
from  her,  and  to  accept  in  her  place,  Elizabeth  Marbery, 
another  of  her  women,  who  shall  be  sent  thither  for  that 
purpose :  whom  at  her  coming  we  require  you  to  be  placed 
there,  and  to  give  order  that  the  said  Sands  may  be  removed 
from  thence  accordingly. 

"Given  under  our  signet,  at  our  manor  of  St  James,  the 
26th  day  of  May,  the  first  year  of  our  reign." 

It  was  soon  found  necessary  to  cancel  the  permission  for 
strangers  to  have  access  to  the  captive  princess,  and  the 
Council  accordingly  wrote  to  Sir  Henry : — 

"And  forasmuch  as  it  appeareth  hereby  that  such  private 
persons  as  be  disposed  to  disquiet  will  not  let  to  take  occasion 
if  they  may,  to  convey  messages  or  letters  in  and  out  by 
some  secret  practice,  her  Majesty's  further  pleasure  is  for  the 
avoiding  hereof,  that  ye  shall  henceforth  suffer  no  manner 


68  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

person  other  than  such  as  are  already  appointed  to  be  about 
the  Lady  Elizabeth,  to  come  unto  her  or  have  any  manner, 
talk,  or  conference  with  her,  any  former  instructions  or  letters 
heretofore  sent  you  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 

Elizabeth  made  difficulties  with  regard  to  every  detail  of 
her  custody,  and  the  substitution  of  Marbery,  although  she 
was  one  of  her  own  women,  for  Sands,  was  not  effected 
without  a  struggle ;  but  on  the  5th  June  Sir  Henry  was  able  to 
report  that :  "  The  same  was  done  this  present  day,  about  2 
of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  not  without  great  mourning 
both  of  my  Lady's  Grace  and  Sands.  And  she  was  conveyed 
into  the  town  by  my  brother  Edmund,  and  by  him  de- 
livered to  Mr  Parry,  who  at  my  desire  yesternight  did 
prepare  horse  and  men  to  be  ready  to  convey  her  either 
to  Clerkenwell  beside  London  to  her  uncle  there,  or  else 
into  Kent,  to  her  father,  towards  the  which  he  promised  she 
should  go.  This  I  do  signify  unto  your  lordships,  because  I 
think  her  a  woman  meet  to  be  looked  unto  for  her  obstinate 
disposition." 

In  another  very  long  letter  he  certifies  that  the  princess 
has  asked  for  an  English  Bible  "of  the  smallest  possible 
volume,"  desiring  that  he  would  send  to  her  cofferer  for  one. 
But  the  cofferer  replied  that  he  had  none  at  all,  but  sent  a 
servant  with  three  books,  one  of  which  contained  the  Psalms 
of  David  and  the  Canticles.  Leave  was  given  for  her  to  have 
an  English  Bible,  and  for  her  to  write  to  the  Queen  as  she 
desired. 

On  the  1 2th  June  Sir  Henry  wrote  to  the  Council  a  letter 
highly  informative  as  to  the  difficulties  of  his  position  : — 

"  Pleaseth  it  your  honourable  lordships  to  be  advertised, 
that  the  same  day  I  last  wrote  unto  you,  my  lady  Elizabeth's 
Grace  demanded  of  me  whether  I  had  provided  her  the  book  of 
the  Bible  in  English  of  the  smallest  volume,  or  no.  I  answered, 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  69 

because  there  were  divers  Latin  books  in  my  hands  ready 
to  be  delivered  if  it  pleased  her  to  have  them,  wherein  as  I 
thought  she  should  have  more  delight,  seeing  she  understandeth 
the  same  so  well ;  therefore  I  had  not  provided  the  same,  which 
answer  I  perceived  she  took  not  in  good  part,  and  within 
half-an-hour  after  that,  in  her  walking  in  the  nether  garden, 
in  the  most  unpleasant  sort  that  ever  I  saw  her  since  her 
coming  from  the  Tower,  she  called  me  to  her  again,  and  said 
in  these  words :  '  I  have  at  divers  times  spoken  to  you  to 
write  to  my  lords  of  certain  my  requests,  and  you  never  make 
me  answer  to  any  of  them.  I  think  (quoth  she)  you  make 
none  of  my  lords  privy  to  my  suit,  but  only  my  Lord 
Chamberlain,  who,  although  I  know  him  to  be  a  good  gentle- 
man, yet  by  age,  and  other  his  earnest  business,  I  know  he 
hath  occasion  to  forget  many  things.'  To  this  I  answered 
that  I  did  never  write  in  her  Grace's  matter  to  any  of  you 
my  lords  privately,  and  said  unto  her  Grace  further,  that  I 
thought  this  was  a  time  that  your  lordships  had  great  business 
in,1  and  therefore  her  Grace  could  not  look  for  direct  answer 
upon  the  first  suit.  '  Well,'  said  she,  '  once  again  I  require 
you  to  do  thus  much  for  me,  to  write  unto  my  said  lords, 
on  my  behalf  to  be  means  unto  the  Queen's  Majesty,  to  grant 
me  leave  to  write  unto  her  Highness  with  mine  own  hand, 
and  in  this  I  pray  you  let  me  have  answer  as  soon  as  you 
can.'  To  this  I  answered  :  '  I  shall  do  for  your  Grace  that  I 
am  able  to  do,  which  is  to  write  to  my  said  Lords,  and 
then  it  must  needs  rest  in  their  honourable  considerations 
whether  I  shall  have  answer  or  no,'  since  which  time  her 
Grace  never  spoke  to  me.  Surely,  I  take  it  that  the  remem- 
brance of  Elizabeth  Sands'  departing,  and  the  only  placing 
Marbery  in  her  room,  clearly  against  her  late  desire,  is  some 
cause  of  her  grief  [grievance]." 

The  effect  produced  by  the  princess's  letter  to  Mary  may 
1  On  account  of  the  Queen's  approaching  marriage. 


70  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

be  gathered  from  the  following  reply,  written  by  the  Queen 
to  Sir  Henry  : — 

"MARYE  THE  QUENE.  By  the  Quene. 

"Trusty  and  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  And  where 
our  pleasure  was  of  late  signified  unto  you  for  the  Lady 
Elizabeth  to  have  licence  to  write  unto  us,  we  have  now 
received  her  letters,  containing  only  certain  arguments  devised 
for  her  declaration  in  such  matters  as  she  hath  been  charged 
withal  by  the  voluntary  confessions  of  divers  others.  In  which 
arguments  she  would  seem  to  persuade  us,  that  the  testimony 
of  those  who  have  opened  matters  against  her,  either  were 
not  such  as  they  be,  or  being  such  should  have  no  credit. 
But  as  we  were  most  sorry  at  the  beginning,  to  have  any 
occasion  of  suspicion,  so  when  it  appeared  unto  us,  that  the 
copies  of  her  secret  letters  unto  us  were  found  in  the  packet  of 
the  French  ambassador,  that  divers  of  the  most  notable  traitors 
made  their  chief  account  upon  her,  we  can  hardly  be  brought 
to  think  that  they  would  have  presumed  to  do  so,  except  they 
had  had  more  certain  knowledge  of  her  favour  towards  their 
unnatural  conspiracy  than  is  yet  by  her  confessed.  And 
therefore,  though  we  have  for  our  part,  considering  the  matter 
brought  to  our  knowledge  against  her,  used  more  clemency 
and  favour  towards  her  than  in  the  like  matter  hath  been 
accustomed ;  yet  cannot  these  fair  words  so  much  abuse 
[deceive]  us,  but  we  do  well  understand  how  these  things  have 
been  wrought.  Conspiracies  be  secretly  practised,  and  things 
of  that  nature  be  many  times  judged  by  probable  conjectures, 
and  other  suspicions  and  arguments,  where  the  plain,  direct 
proof  may  chance  to  fail ;  even  as  wise  Solomon  judged  who 
was  the  true  mother  of  the  child  by  the  woman's  behaviour 
and  words,  when  other  proof  failed  and  could  not  be  had.  By 
the  argument  and  circumstances  of  her  said  letter  with  other 
articles  declared  on  your  behalf  by  your  brother  to  our  Privy 
Council,  it  may  well  appear  her  meaning  and  purpose  to  be 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  71 

far  otherwise  than  her  letters  purported.  Wherefore  our 
pleasure  is  not  to  be  hereafter  any  more  molested  with  such 
her  disguise  and  colourable  letters,  but  wish  for  her  that  it 
may  please  our  Lord  to  grant  her  His  grace  to  be  towards 
Him  as  she  ought  to  be ;  then  shall  she  the  sooner  be  towards 
us  as  becometh  her.  This  much  have  we  thought  good  to 
write  unto  you,  to  the  intent  ye  might  understand  the  effect 
of  those  letters,  and  so  continue  your  accustomed  diligence 
in  the  charge  by  us  committed  to  you. 

"  Given  under  our  signet  at  the  Castle  of  Farnham,  the 
25th  day  of  June,  the  first  year  of  our  reign." 

The  gist  of  this  letter  was  communicated  to  Elizabeth  by 
Sir  Henry  in  the  manner  he  himself  describes : — 

"  Yesterday  I  went  to  hear  Mass  in  her  Grace's  chamber ; 
that  being  ended,  in  the  time  of  doing  my  duty,  thinking  to 
have  departed  from  her  Grace,  she  called  me,  and  asked 
whether  I  had  heard  of  any  answer  that  was  or  should  be  made 
by  the  Queen's  Majesty  to  her  late  letters.  Upon  which 
occasion,  fitly  as  I  took  it,  I  made  her  Grace  answer  that  I  had 
to  declare  unto  her  an  answer  on  the  Queen's  Majesty's  behalf, 
whensoever  she  should  command  me.  '  Let  it  be  even  now,' 
said  her  Grace.  'If  you  will,'  I  answered,  'because  I  was 
fearful  to  mis-report ;  therefore  I  have  scribbled  it  as  well  as  I 
can  with  mine  own  hand,  and  if  you  will  give  me  leave  to  fetch 
it,'  and,  being  ready  to  go  in  to  her  Grace  with  it,  I  received 
word  from  her  Grace  by  one  of  the  Queen's  Majesty's  women 
to  stay  till  her  Grace  had  dined,  and  then  she  would  hear  it. 
Within  a  mean  pause  after  dinner  she  sent  for  me,  and  having 
Mr  Tomiou  in  my  company,  who  going  with  me  into  the  outer 
chamber,  there  staying,  I  went  in  to  her  Grace,  and  required  her 
if  it  so  stood  with  her  pleasure  that  he  might  hear  the  doing 
of  the  message.  She  granted  it,  and  I  called  him  in,  and 
kneeling  by  with  me,  I  read  unto  her  Grace  my  message 


72  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

according  to  the  effect  of  the  Queen's  Majesty's  letter.  After 
once  hearing  of  it  she  uttered  certain  words,  bewailing  her  own 
chance  in  that  her  Grace's  letter,  contrary  to  her  expectations, 
took  no  better  effect,  and  desired  to  hear  it  once  again,  which 
I  did.  And  then  her  Grace  said :  '  I  note  especially  to  my 
great  discomfort  [which  I  shall,  nevertheless,  willingly  obey] 
that  the  Queen's  Majesty  is  not  pleased  that  I  should  molest 
her  Highness  with  any  more  of  my  colourable  letters,  which, 
although  they  be  termed  colourable,  yet  not  offending  the 
Queen's  Majesty,  I  must  say  for  myself  that  it  was  the  plain 
truth,  even  as  I  desire  to  be  saved  afore  God  Almighty,  and 
so  let  it  pass.  Yet,  Mr  Bedyngfeld,  if  you  think  you  may  do  so 
much  for  me,  I  would  have  you  to  receive  an  answer  which  I 
would  make  unto  you  touching  your  message,  which  I  would  at 
the  least  way,  my  Lords  of  the  Council  might  understand,  and 
that  ye  would  conceive  it  upon  my  words,  and  put  it  in  writing, 
and  let  me  hear  it  again.  And  if  it  be  according  to  my 
meaning,  so  to  pass  it  to  my  lordships  for  my  better  comfort  in 
mine  adversity.'  To  this  I  answered  her  Grace :  '  I  pray  you, 
hold  me  excused  that  I  do  not  grant  your  request  in  the  same.' 
Then  she  said  :  '  It  is  like  that  I  shall  be  offered  more  than  ever 
any  prisoner  was  in  the  Tower,  for  the  prisoners  be  suffered  to 
open  their  mind  to  the  Lieutenant,  and  he  to  declare  the  same 
unto  the  Council,  and  you  refuse  to  do  the  like.'  To  this  I 
answered  her  Grace  that  there  was  a  diversity  where  the 
Lieutenant  did  hear  a  prisoner  declare  matters  touching  his 
case,  and  should  thereof  give  notice  unto  the  Council,  and 
where  the  prisoner  should,  as  it  were,  command  the  Lieutenant 
to  do  his  message  to  the  Council.  Therefore,  I  desired  that  her 
Grace  would  give  me  leave  with  patience  not  to  agree  to  her 
desire  herein,  and  so  departed  from  her  Grace. 

"  Yesterday  morning  again,  about  x  of  the  clock,  in  the  time 
of  her  walk,  she  called  me  to  her  in  the  little  garden,  and  said  : 
'  I  remember  yesterday  ye  refused  utterly  to  write  on  my  behalf 
unto  my  Lords  of  the  Council,  and  therefore,  if  you  continue  in 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  73 

that  mind  still,  I  shall  be  in  worse  case  than  the  worst  prisoner 
in  Newgate,  for  they  be  never  gainsaid  in  the  time  of  their 
imprisonment  by  one  friend  or  Bother  to  have  their  cause 
opened  or  sued  for,  and  this  is  and  shall  be  such  a  conclusion 
unto  me,  that  I  must  needs  continue  this  life  without  all  hope 
worldly,  wholly  resting  to  the  truth  of  my  cause,  and  that 
before  God  to  be  opened,  arming  myself  against  whatsoever 
shall  happen,  to  remain  the  Queen's  true  subject  as  I  have  done 
during  my  life.  It  waxeth  wet,  and  therefore  1  will  depart  to 
my  lodging  again ; '  and  so  she  did.  Thus  much  concerning 
her  Grace,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  give  your  lordships 
advertisement  of,  to  be  considered  as  it  shall  please  your 
honours,  clearly  omitting  any  part  of  the  message,  and  such 
which  my  lady's  Grace  would  have  had  me  to  have  taken  upon 
me,  and  shall  do  so,  unless  I  have  the  Queen's  Majesty's 
warrant  for  the  same." 

This  report  had  the  desired  effect,  and  the  Council  gave  Sir 
Henry  leave  "  to  write  those  things  that  she  shall  desire  you, 
and  to  signify  the  same  to  us  of  her  Majesty's  Council,  sending 
your  letters  touching  that  matter  enclosed  in  some  paper 
directed  to  her  Highness,  so  as  she  may  herself  have  the  first 
sight  thereof" 

Mary's  next  letter  was  personal  to  Sir  Henry  himself : — 

"Trusty  and  right  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  And 
where  we  understand  that  by  occasion  of  certain  our  instruc- 
tions lately  given  unto  you,  ye  do  continually  make  your 
personal  abode  within  that  our  house  at  Woodstock,  without 
removing  from  thence  at  any  time,  which  thing  might,  perad- 
venture  in  continuance,  be  both  some  danger  to  your  health, 
and  be  occasion  also  that  ye  shall  not  be  so  well  able  to  under- 
stand the  state  of  the  country  thereabouts,  as  otherwise  ye 
might;  we  let  you  wit  that  in  consideration  thereof;  we  are 
pleased  ye  may  at  any  time,  when  yourself  shall  think  con- 


?4  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

venient,  make  your  repair  from  out  of  our  said  house,  leaving 
one  of  your  brethren  to  look  to  your  charge,  and  see  to  the  good 
governance  of  that  house  in  your  absence,  so  as,  nevertheless, 
ye  return  back  again  yourself  at  night,  for  the  better  looking  to 
your  said  charge.  And  for  your  better  ease  and  recreation,  we 
are,  in  like  manner  pleased  that  ye  and  your  brethren  may,  at 
your  liberties,  hawk  for  your  pastime  at  the  partridge,  or 
hunt  the  hare  within  that  our  manor  of  Woodstock,  or  any 
of  our  grounds  adjoining  to  the  same,  from  time  to  time, 
when  ye  shall  think  most  convenient ;  and  that  also  ye  may, 
if  ye  shall  so  think  good,  cause  your  wife  to  be  sent  for, 
and  to  remain  there  with  you  as  long  as  yourself  shall  think 
meet. 

"  Given  under  our  signet  at  our  Castle  of  Farnham,  ye  7th  of 
July,  ye  second  year  of  our  reign." 

Elizabeth  was  not  slow  to  profit  by  the  permission  obtained 
for  her  to  write  to  the  Council  through  the  intermediary 
allowed,  and  Sir  Henry's  letter-book  contains  the  following 
transcript  of  his  report  written  in  his  own  hand. 

"  My  lady  Elizabeth's  Grace's  suit : — 

"  My  lady  Elizabeth,  this  present  3Oth  of  July,  required  me 
to  make  report  of  her  Grace's  mind  as  her  suit  to  your  honours 
to  be  means  to  the  Queen's  Majesty  on  her  behalf  to  this 
effect.  To  beseech  your  lordships  all  to  consider  her  woeful 
case,  that  being  but  once  licensed  to  write  as  an  humble 
suitress  unto  the  Queen's  Highness,  and  received  thereby  no 
such  comfort  as  she  hoped  to  have  done,  but  to  her  further 
discomfort  in  a  message  by  me  opened,  that  it  was  the  Queen's 
Highness's  pleasure  not  to  be  any  more  molested  with  her 
Grace's  letters,  that  it  may  please  the  same,  and  that  upon 
very  pity,  considering  her  long  imprisonment  and  restraint 
of  liberty,  either  to  charge  her  with  special  matter  to  be 
answered  unto  and  tried,  or  to  grant  her  liberty  to  come 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  75 

unto  Her  Highness's  presence,  which  she  saith  she  would 
not  desire,  were  it  not  that  she  knoweth  herself  to  be  clear, 
even  before  God,  of  her  allegiance.  And  if  also  by  your 
good  mediations  she  might  not  enjoy  the  Queen's  Highness's 
most  gracious  favour  without  any  scruples  or  suspicions  of 
her  truth,  she  had  rather  willingly  suffer  this  that  she  doth, 
and  much  more,  than  her  Majesty  should  in  any  case  be 
troubled  or  disquieted,  touching  her  whose  honour  surely  and 
preservation  she  saith  she  doth  desire  above  all  things  in 
this  world.  Requiring  me  further  to  move  chiefly  as  many 
of  you  my  lords  as  were  a  Council,  parties,  and  privy  to  and 
for  the  execution  of  the  will  of  the  King's  Majesty  her  father, 
to  further  this  her  Grace's  suit  above  said.  And  if  neither  of 
these  two  her  suits  may  be  obtained  by  your  lordships  for 
her,  that  then  it  might  please  the  Queen's  Highness  to  grant 
that  some  of  you  my  lords  may  have  leave  to  repair  hither 
unto  her,  and  to  receive  her  suit  of  her  own  mouth  to  be  opened. 
Whereby  she  may  take  a  release  not  to  think  herself  utterly 
desolate  of  all  refuge  in  this  world." 

To  this  the  Council  made  reply  on  the  /th  August  that 
"  the  Queen's  Highness "  would  "  take  a  time  to  consider, 
and  at  convenient  leisure  make  such  answer  thereunto  as  shall 
be  necessary "  ;  but  Elizabeth's  imperious  temper  brooked  no 
delay,  and  Sir  Henry  was  soon  prevailed  on  to  jog  their 
lordship's  memories : — 

"  Upon  Friday  last,"  he  wrote,  "  my  lady  Elizabeth's 
Grace,  in  the  time  of  her  walk  in  the  over  garden  here,  in  the 
forenoon  of  the  same  day,  said  unto  me,  '  I  have  very  slow 
speed  in  the  answer  of  any  of  my  suits,  and  I  know  it  is  ever 
so  when  that  there  is  not  one  appointed  to  give  daily  attend- 
ance in  suit-making  for  answer.  And  therefore,'  saith  she, 
'  I  pray  you  let  me  send  a  servant  of  mine  own  to  whom  I 
will  do  the  message  in  your  hearing  that  he  shall  do  by  my 
commandment ;  and  this  I  think,'  said  she,  '  is  not  against  the 


76  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

order  and  service  appointed  unto  you.'  To  which  I  answered 
requiring  her  Grace  to  be  contented,  for  I  neither  could  nor 
would  assent  to  any  such  her  request.  '  Then,'  said  she,  '  I 
am  at  a  marvellous  afterdeal  [disadvantage],  for  I  have  known 
that  the  wife  hath  been  received  to  sue  for  her  husband,  the 
kinsman,  friend  or  servant  for  them  that  hath  been  in  the 
case  I  now  am,  and  never  denied.'  To  that  I  answered : '  I 
myself  am  of  small  experience  in  such  case ;  that  notwith- 
standing, I  trust  ye  shall  not  be  long,  or  my  lords  of  the 
Council  will  remember  your  suit,  and  answer  the  same.'" 
And  so  her  Grace  ended. 

Harsh  as  this  refusal  may  appear  at  first  sight,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  Sir  Henry,  in  reporting  his  conversations  with 
Elizabeth  to  the  Council  often  obtained  for  her  if  not  exactly 
what  she  had  asked  for,  at  least  some  concession,  which,  had 
she  been  entirely  in  good  faith,  would  have  served  her  purpose 
as  well.  But  in  spite  of  her  jailor's  "  scrupulousness  "  she  con- 
trived to  communicate  pretty  freely  by  means  of  Parry,  her 
cofferer,  and  others,  with  the  outside  world.  Bolts  and  bars 
were  ineffectual  so  long  as  those  who  surrounded  her  were 
willing  intermediaries  between  her  and  the  enemies  of  the 
queen,  and  Sir  Henry  knew  it  well.  He  desired  nothing  more 
than  to  be  rid  of  his  onerous  charge,  as  is  seen  by  the  following 
letter  to  Thirlby,  Bishop  of  Ely  : — 

"  After  my  hearty  commendations  to  your  good  lordship, 
so  it  is  that  as  you  do  know,  I  have  continued  this  service  by 
the  space  of  fifteen  weeks,  in  care  of  mind  and  some  travail  of 
body,  which  I  would  be  glad  to  make  suit  to  be  relieved  of, 
if  I  might  know  it  should  be  taken-  in  good  part  And  having 
no  friend  whom  I  believe  myself  to  be  so  assured  of  as  your 
lordship,  even  thereupon  I  am  bold  by  these  heartily  to 
desire  your  travail  in  my  behalf  [if  it  so  stand  with  your 
good  opinion]  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  to  grant  me  my 
discharge  from  the  same.  Wherein  I  trust  my  Lord 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  77 

Chancellor l  will  join  with  you,  if  it  content  you  to  move  him 
thereunto,  who,  by  words  of  marvellous  effect  comprising  both 
the  Queen's  commandment  that  I  should  enter  into  it,  and 
his  earnest  request  at  that  time  also,  did  cause  me  to  take  in 
hand  the  same.  And  lest  my  said  Lord  should  forget,  I  pray 
you  put  him  in  remembrance  that  he  had  this  talk  with  me 
upon  the  causeway  betwixt  the  house  of  Saint  James  and  Charing 
Cross.  And  what  it  shall  content  you  to  do  for  me  herein, 
I  shall  desire  you  to  be  ascertained  by  your  letters,  upon  the 
return  of  the  messenger.  I  made  late  a  suit  to  you  for  your 
house  at  Blackfriars,  and  received  answer  that  you  had  other- 
wise disposed  the  same ;  yet  remembering  that  you  had  an 
house  of  my  Lord  of  Bath  in  Holborn,  which,  as  the  case  now 
standeth,  I  think  your  Lordship  will  have  little  pleasure  to 
use,  and  if,  by  your  good  mean,  I  might  obtain  the  same  at 
my  Lord  of  Bath's  hands,  you  should  do  unto  me  a  great  good 
turn,  which  have  no  house  of  refuge  in  London,  but  the  common 
inn,  and  would  be  glad  to  give  large  money  to  be  avoided  of 
that  inconvenience.  And  thus  remaining  at  the  Queen's 
Majesty's  house  of  Woodstock  [out  of  which  I  was  never,  by 
the  space  of  six  hours,  sith  my  coming  into  the  same],  I  leave 
to  trouble  your  Lordship  with  this  my  rude  writing. 

"  At  the  house  aforesaid,  the  i6th  day  of  August  1554." 

But  nothing  came  of  his  efforts  to  get  himself  released, 
and  the  unequal  contest  between  his  "scrupulousness,"  and 
Elizabeth's  astute,  unfathomable  diplomacy  was  still  to  be 
waged  for  many  months.  Her  request  to  be  allowed  to  send  a 
verbal  message  to  the  Council  by  one  of  her  servants  was 
indeed  declined,  but  she  received  permission  to  commit  her 
petition  to  paper.  On  the  2Oth  September,  Sir  Henry  wrote 
to  the  Council : — 

"  Upon   the   return    of    my    brother    Edmund    with    your 
honourable   letters    dated    at    Hampton    Court    the    i$th    of 
1  Stephen  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester. 


78  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

this  present  month,  I  did  take  knowledge  that  your 
lordships  had  obtained  of  the  Qjieen's  Majesty  that  my  lady 
Elizabeth's  Grace  might  write  unto  your  lordships,  deliver- 
ing the  same  unto  me  to  be  addressed  unto  your  honours, 
inclosed  in  my  letter,  by  one  of  her  grace's  extraordinary 
servants;  whereupon  the  Monday,  being  the  I7th  day  in  the 
forenoon  of  the  same,  I  declared  that  your  lordships  had 
granted  her  Grace's  late  desire  in  form  above  said,  which 
was  glad  tidings  as  I  took  it.  Yet  her  Grace  at  that  time 
did  neither  command  me  to  prepare  things  for  her  Grace 
to  write  with  nor  named  who  should  be  her  messenger,  and 
so  I  departed.  Her  Grace  never  spake  words  of  that  matter 
more  till  the  Sunday  following,  in  the  time  of  her  Grace's 
walk  at  the  afternoon,  at  which  time  her  Grace  commanded 
to  prepare  her  pen  and  ink  and  paper  against  the  next  day> 
which  I  did.  Upon  Monday  in  the  morning  her  Grace  sent 
Mistress  Morton,  the  Queen's  Highness's  woman  for  the 
same,  to  whom  I  delivered  a  standsel  [an  inkstand]  with 
five  pens,  two  sheets  of  fine  paper  and  one  coarse  sheet, 
enclosing  the  same  with  this  request  unto  the  said  Mistress 
Morton,  that  she  should  make  suit  to  my  lady's  Grace  on 
my  behalf,  that  it  would  please  her  Grace  not  to  use  the 
same  but  in  the  sight  of  Mistress  Tomio  or  her.  And  the 
same  Mistress  Morton  did  this,  and  brought  me  word  that 
her  Grace  had  consented  to  my  said  suit,  and  that  I  should 
also  send  word  unto  Francis  Verney,  her  Grace's  ordinary 
servant  lying  in  the  town  of  Woodstock,  with  her  cofferer 
to  be  messenger.  Where  I  perceive  they  use  as  much  privy 
conference  to  her  Grace  and  from  her  as  they  list,  even  as 
I  advertised  your  lordships  long  ago.  The  house  also  being 
a  common  inn  wherein  they  do  lie,  and  they  so  politic  as  they 
be,  I  can  get  no  knowledge  of  their  doings  by  any  espyal ; 
this  only  I  am  sure  of  they  meet  not  together  in  person. 
At  the  afternoon,  in  her  Grace's  going  to  walk,  I  heard  her 
say  she  had  such  pain  in  her  head  that  she  could  write  no 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  79 

more  that  day.      Tuesday   in  the  morning,  as   I   learned   of 
Mistress  Morton,  she  washed  her  head." 

On  the  4th  October  he  wrote  to  the  queen : — 

"May  it  please  your  Highness  to  be  advertised  that  this 
great  lady,  upon  whose  person  ye  have  commanded  mine 
attendance,  is  and  hath  been  in  quiet  state  for  the  health  of 
her  body  this  month  or  six  weeks,  and  of  her  mind  declareth 
nothing  outwardly  by  word  or  deed  that  I  can  come  to  the 
knowledge  of,  but  all  tending  to  the  hope  she  saith  she  hath 
of  your  clemency  and  mercy  towards  her.  Marry,  against 
my  lords  of  your  most  honourable  Council  I  have  heard  her 
speak,  words  that  declare  that  she  hath  conceived  great 
unkindness  in  them,  if  her  meaning  go  with  her  words, 
whereof  God  only  is  judge." 

His  task  grew  daily  more  complicated,  and  the  next  letter 
is  a  key  to  the  situation : — 

"My  humble  duty  remembered  unto  your  honourable 
lordships,  these  shall  be  to  advertise  the  same,  that  this 
present  2ist  day  of  October,  my  lady  Elizabeth's  Grace 
commanded  me  to  prepare  things  necessary  for  her  to  write 
unto  your  lordships,  whereupon  I  took  occasion  to  declare 
unto  her  Grace  that  the  express  words  of  your  honourable 
letters,  dated  at  Hampton  Court,  the  i$th  of  September,  did 
not  bear  that  the  Queen's  Majesty  was  pleased  that  her  Grace, 
upon  any  occasion  from  time  to  time  moving,  and  as  often 
as  it  pleased  her,  might  write  unto  you.  And  therefore  I 
prayed  her  Grace  to  stay  her  determination  therein  until  I 
might  signify  this  my  doubt  unto  your  lordships,  and  receive 
your  full  and  plain  determination  therein  for  my  discharge ; 
which  my  suit  she  took  in  so  ill  part  that  her  Grace  of 
displeasure  therein  did  utter,  with  more  words  of  reproach  of 


80  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

this  my  service,  about  her  by  the  Queen's  commandment 
than  ever  I  heard  her  speak  afore :  too  long  to  write.  At 
afternoon  her  Grace  sent  for  me  by  Mrs  Pomeyow,  and  then 
in  a  more  quieter  sort,  required  me  to  write  unto  your 
honours,  and  thereby  to  desire  the  same  to  be  means  for  her 
unto  the  Queen's  Highness  to  grant  that  Drs  Wendy,  Owen, 
and  Huick,  or  two  of  them,  may  be  licensed  with  convenient 
speed  to  repair  hither,  for  to  minister  unto  her  physic, 
bringing  of  their  own  choice  one  expert  surgeon  to  let  her 
Grace's  blood,  if  the  said  doctors  or  two  of  them  shall  think 
it  so  good,  upon  the  view  of  her  suit  upon  their  coming.  .  .  . 
Most  heartily  desiring  your  honours  to  return  with  the  same 
your  absolute  opinions  to  the  first  matter  which  shall  be 
done  accordingly,  with  our  Lord's  leave  and  help,  to  under- 
stand your  pleasures  and  commandments  aright,  which  this 
great  lady  saith  may  have  good  meaning  in  me,  but  it 
lacketh  knowledge,  experience,  and  all  other  accidents  in 
such  a  service  requisite,  which  I  must  needs  confess.  The 
help  only  hereof  resteth  in  God  and  the  Queen's  Majesty, 
with  your  honourable  advice ;  from  whence  to  receive  the 
discharge  of  this  my  service,  without  offence  to  the  Queen's 
Majesty  or  you  my  good  lords,  were  the  joyfullest  tidings 
that  ever  came  to  me,  as  our  Lord  Almighty  knoweth,  to 
whom  no  secrets  be  hidden." 

The  physicians  were  sent  to  Woodstock,  and  Elizabeth 
was  "let  blood,"  Sir  Henry  testifying  that  "by  her  own 
commandment "  he  saw  it  done  "  by  the  bleeding  of  her 
arm " ;  and  some  hours  later  he  saw  her  foot  "  stricken 
and  bled,  since  which  time,  thanks  be  to  God,  as  far  as 
I  see  or  hear  she  doeth  reasonably  well  as  that  case 
requireth." 

Some  months  later  "  the  joyfullest  tidings  that  ever  came " 
were  conveyed  in  a  letter  from  the  queen,  It  was  the  herald 
of  his  longed-for  "  discharge  "  : — 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  81 

"  MARYE  THE  QUENE.  By  the  Quene. 

"  Trusty  and  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  And  for  as 
much  as  we  have  resolved  to  have  the  lady  Elizabeth  to  repair 
nearer  unto  us,  we  do  therefore  pray  and  require  you  to 
declare  unto  her  that  our  pleasure  is  she  shall  come  to  us  to 
Hampton  Court  in  your  company  with  as  much  speed  as 
you  can  have  things  in  order  for  that  purpose  ;  wherein  you 
shall  not  need  to  make  any  delay  for  calling  of  any  other 
numbers  than  these,  which  be  yourself  and  those  now  there 
attendant  upon  her.  And  of  the  time  of  your  setting  forwards 
from  thence,  and  by  what  day  you  shall  think  you  may  be 
there,  we  require  you  to  advertise  us  by  your  letters  with 
speed. 

"  Given  under  our  signet  at  our  honour  of  Hampton  Court, 
the  1 7th  of  April  the  1st  and  2nd  of  our  reign." 

On  their  arrival  at  court  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  was 
relieved,  Sir  Thomas  Pope  being  appointed  to  replace  him. 
Elizabeth  was  soon  afterwards  allowed  to  retire  to  Hatfield, 
where  she  remained  under  supervision  till  her  accession.  In 
the  meanwhile,  Bedingfeld  was  appointed  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower,  and  the  following  selection  of  letters  from  the  family 
archives  at  Oxburgh  not  only  affords  us  a  further  insight 
into  his  character,  but  shows  at  the  same  time  in  what 
manner  the  State  prisoners  were  treated  by  the  Queen,  the 
Council,  and  the  Lieutenant. 

The  two  first  letters  relate  to  Sir  John  Cheke  who,  together 
with  Sir  Peter  Carew,  had  been  arrested  in  Flanders,  and 
brought  to  the  Tower  for  implication  in  Wyatt's  rebellion. 
Carew  was  released  in  October  1555. 

"  Sir  Robert  Rochester  to  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld. 

"MR  LIEUTENANT, — My  Lord  Cardinal  his  Grace1  being 
gone  to  Lambeth  of  express  purpose,  there  to  have  before  him 

1  Cardinal  Pole. 

F 


' 
82  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Mr  Cheke,  hath  required  me  to  write  unto  you,  and  to 
require  you  that  the  said  Mr  Cheke  may  be  sent  unto  him 
unto  Lambeth,  in  the  company  and  with  the  Dean  of  Paul's. 
Wherefore  I  pray  you  take  order  with  the  said  Dean  so  as 
he  may  convey  him  thither  accordingly.  The  meaning  is 
that  no  officer  of  the  Tower  should  be  troubled  with  his 
conveyance  thither,  but  only  the  Dean  to  be  charged  by 
you  with  his  person  to  bring  to  my  Lord  Cardinal's  presence, 
and  he  to  bring  him  again  when  it  shall  please  my  said  Lord 
to  command  him,  who  hath  the  whole  order  and  disposition 
of  this  case.  This  must  be  done  when  Mr  Dean  he  cometh 
to  you  for  the  man.  And  so  bids  you  most  heartily  well  to 
fare,  from  the  Court  this  present  morning,  your  assured 
friend,  R.  ROCHESTER." 

"  Sir  John  Feckenham^  Priest^  to  Sir  John  CJteke. 

"GENTLE  MR  CHEKE, — It  was  this  day  somewhat  past 
10  of  the  clock  before  I  could  have  any  determinate  answer 
of  your  coming  unto  the  Court,  which  is  now  appointed  to  be 
at  2  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  shall  send  two  of  my 
servants  to  wait  upon  you  from  the  Tower  unto  my  house, 
at  i  of  the  clock,  and  from  thence  I  will  go  with  you  unto 
the  Court  myself.  I  do  think  that  Mr  Lieutenant  is  already 
put  to  knowledge  thereof,  but  if  it  be  forgotten  give  unto 
him  this  my  letter,  and  he  will  not  stay  you.  Your  sub- 
mission is  very  well  liked,  and  the  Queen's  Highness  hath 
seen  the  same,  with  which  her  Majesty  has  found  no  fault, 
but  only  that  you  had  forgotten  to  make  mention  in  the 
latter  end  thereof  of  the  King's  Majesty.  And  therefore  you 
must  write  it  all  whole  again,  and  in  the  latter  end  add 
these  words  which  I  have  added  touching  the  King's 
Majesty,  or  else  everything  is  as  it  was  in  your  own  copy 
save  that  I  added  in  one  place  the  real  presence  of  Christ's 

1  Abbot  of  Westminster,  who  was  appointed  to  examine  Cheke  in 
matters  of  religion. 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  83 

Body  and  Blood.  I  pray  you  leave  not  out  these  words,  and 
at  your  coming  I  shall  hear  your  cause,  where  notwithstand- 
ing your  few  lines  which  is  wrote  unto  me  thereof,  be  you  of 
good  comfort ;  all  things  are  well,  and  imagined  best  for 
your  furtherance.  You  have  more  friends  than  you  be  ware 
of.  Thus  fare  you  well,  this  present  5  of  Sep.  1556,  by  your 
assured  friend,  JOHN  FECKNAM,  Priest. 

"  I  pray  you  fail  not  to  write  it  all  again,  and  that  as 
large  and  plain  as  you  can,  for  I  am  commanded  to  request 
you  that  you  duly  so  do." 

Dr  Cheke,  having  proved  his  innocence  of  conspiracy  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  Council,  and  having  recanted  his  heresy, 
was  released,  and  "  through  the  efficacy  of  his  language,"  about 
thirty  others  followed  his  example,  and  saved  their  lives.  He 
died  the  next  year,  the  heretics  said,  of  remorse  for  what  he 
had  done  against  the  reformed  religion. 

Edward  Lewkner,  who  according  to  Machyn's  Diary  had 
been  groom-porter  to  Edward  VI.  and  Mary,  "was  cast  to 
suffer  death  "  in  the  third  year  of  Mary's  reign  for  participation 
in  the  Dudley  conspiracy.  While  in  the  Tower  he  fell  so 
grievously  ill  as  to  excite  the  Lieutenant's  compassion,  and  Sir 
Henry  appears  to  have  interceded  with  the  Queen  on  his 
behalf. 

"  To  tJte  Right  Worshipful  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld,  Knight,  Lieu- 
tenant of  the  Queen's  Highnesses  Tower  of  London.  Francis 
Malet,  Priest. 

"RIGHT  WORSHIPFUL, — After  my  hearty  commendations 
these  shall  be  to  certify  your  Mastership  that  where  your 
charity  was  declared  in  that  it  pleased  you  to  take  pains  to 
declare  by  your  wise  and  discreet  letters  the  piteous  state  of 
Lewkner,  your  prisoner,  I  was  thereby  the  more  ready  and 
yet  not  wanting  the  counsel  of  a  counseller  to  move  the  Queen's 
goodness  in  the  matter.  And  her  Grace  being  content  to  take 


84  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

into  her  hands  your  letter,  and  going  with  it  into  her  privy 
chamber,  said  she  would  consider  the  matter,  and  that  I  should 
learn  what  her  Grace's  resolute  mind  will  be  therein.  And 
therefore  to  tarry  this  messenger  any  longer  at  this  time  I 
thought  but  folly,  for  that  I  shall  be  ready  sooner  at  night 
if  it  please  her  Highness  to  understand  what  answer  she  will 
make  to  my  suit ;  or  if  it  will  not  be  known  this  night,  as  I 
doubt,  for  her  Grace  is  as  it  were  ever  defatigate  with  her  late 
business  in  dispatching  the  King  of  Bohemia's  ambassadors, 
I  shall  know  as  soon  as  I  may  what  her  Grace's  determination 
shall  be  ;  and  that  known,  I  shall  with  all  expedition  intimate 
the  same  unto  you,  that  so  the  poor  man  may  be  certified  of 
her  Grace's  pleasure.  And  in  the  meantime  I  shall  most 
heartily  beseech  your  Mastership  to  continue  your  favour 
towards  the  man ;  and  divers  of  those  that  be  most  nigh  unto 
her  Grace's  person  desire  the  same  at  your  hands,  and  saith 
plainly  that  the  Queen's  Grace  will  not  be  discontent  that  he 
may  have  all  the  commodity  that  may  be  showed  him  for  the 
recovery  of  his  health  within  the  Tower.  I  pray  God  show 
His  will  mercifully  upon  him,  and  I  trust  the  Queen's  goodness 
shall  be  extended  withal  unto  him  to  his  great  comfort,  as 
knoweth  Almighty  Jesus,  who  send  you  with  much  worship 
long  to  live  and  well  to  live  in  both  soul  and  body.  Scribbled 
in  haste  with  the  running  hand  of  yours  to  command, 

FRANCIS  MALET,  Priest" 

The  above  letter  is  undated,  but  the  sequel  to  the  story 
is  related  by  the  Lieutenant  himself  in  the  minutes  of  a  letter 
to  the  Council. 

"  Please  it  your  Grace  and  my  Lords  to  be  advertised  that 
this  present  Sunday,  the  6th  September,  Edward  Lewkner, 
prisoner,  attainted  by  long  sickness,  departed  this  transitory 
life  to  God,  about  the  hour  of  eight  of  the  clock  of  the  night. 
Who  was  a  willing  man  in  the  forenoon  of  this  day  to  have 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN7  85 

received  the  blessed  Sacrament,  but  the  priest  that  did  serve 
in  the  absence  of  the  .  .  .  l  did  think  him  so  well  that  it 
was  meet  to  be  ministered  to  him  but  after  he  had  heard  his 
confession.  He  did  minister  unto  him  the  Sacrament  of 
Oiling,  or  Extreme  Unction,  at  the  which  I  was  present  To- 
morrow I  intend  by  God's  grace  to  see  him  buried  in  form 
appertaining  to  his  condition  in  life,  as  I  have  learned  of  those 
that  have  seen  the  like  order.  Instead  of  a  will  he  charged 
me  with  his  service  to  the  Queen's  Majesty,  that  it  might 
please  her  Highness,  after  forgiveness  of  his  offences  towards 
the  same,  to  vouchsafe  to  have  pity  of  his  wife  and  ten  poor 
children,  which  I  promised  to  do  upon  my  next  waiting  upon 
her  Majesty,  humbly  beseeching  your  Lordships  all  in  time 
most  meet  to  be  good  lords  to  the  same  his  petition.  And 
so  as  your  poor  beadsman  I  take  my  leave  of  you. 

"From  the  Queen's  Majesty's  Tower  of  London  1556,  the 
night  aforesaid,  about  1 1  of  the  clock. 

"  HENRY  BEDYNGFELD." 

Many  other  letters  among  this  collection  give  evidence  of 
the  kindness  and  pity  bestowed  by  the  Lieutenant  on  the 
prisoners  in  the  Tower,  and  the  consideration  with  which  their 
friends  were  treated,  these  being  admitted  to  see  them  when- 
ever it  was  practicable.  His  relations  with  nearly  all  the 
members  of  the  Privy  Council  were  intimate  and  cordial,  but 
perhaps  his  closest  friend  was  Sir  Henry  Jerningham,  who  was 
not  only  a  colleague,  but  the  chosen  companion  of  the  rare 
occasions  that  were  devoted  to  recreation  and  pleasure.  Their 
two  families  had  always  been  on  terms  of  affectionate  intimacy, 
although  it  was  not  until  two  generations  later  that  they 
became  allied  by  marriage,  when  Thomas  Bedingfeld  of 
Oxburgh,  Sir  Henry's  grandson,  married  Frances,  daughter 
and  co-heir  of  John  Jerningham  of  Somerleyton. 

On  the  1 6th  February  1557,  Sir  Henry  Jerningham,  having 
1  Illegible  in  the  manuscript. 


86  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTKR 

occasion  to  write  to  the  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower  on  business, 
ended  his  letter  thus  : — 

"  I  do  and  will  labour  all  that  I  can  to  have  your  company 
into  Norfolk  this  Lent,  to  course  the  hare  and  hawk  the  heron. 
And  thus  I  commit  you  to  God,  praying  Him  to  send  us  our 
prosperity.  Your  assured  friend,  HENRY  JERNINGHAM." 

During  the  years  1553,  1554,  and  1557,  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld 
sat  in  Parliament  as  one  of  the  knights  of  the  shire  for  Norfolk. 
In  1557  he  succeeded  Sir  Henry  Jerningham  as  Captain  of  the 
Yeoman  of  the  Guard,  at  which  time  he  was  also  made  vice- 
Chamberlain.  But  Mary's  death  in  1558  closed  his  public 
career,  and  he  retired  to  Oxburgh,  which,  hemmed  in  on  the 
south  side  by  miles  of  fen  country,  was  in  those  days  for  all 
practical  purposes  entirely  cut  off  from  the  world.  It  was 
probably  during  a  temporary  absence,  and  when  he  was  pur- 
posing to  entertain  guests  in  his  beautiful  Norfolk  home,  that 
the  following  letter  was  written  to  him  presumably  by  his 

steward  : — 

s 

"  To  the  right  worshipful  and  my  especial  good  friend  Sir  Henry 
Bedingfeld,  Knight,  be  this  delivered. 

"  Pleaseth  it  your  Mastership  that  according  to  your  Master- 
ship's commandment,  I  did  write  to  Mr  R and  he  was 

not  at  home.  I  shall  go  to  him  again,  and  you  shall  know 
by  the  next  messenger ;  you  shall  understand  what  plate  and 
bedding  may  be  had  at  his  hand.  What  number  of  capons 
and  hens  your  Mastership  would  have  me  to  provide  I  would 
desire  to  know  by  the  next  messenger.  I  doubt  fat  capons  are 
hard  to  be  gotten  in  these  parts,  therefore  if  you  had  any  that 
were  ready  fed,  or  could  get  any  that  were  fed  in  Suffolk  they 
might  be  stayed  till  the  time  you  should  require  them,  and  have 
them  killed,  and  carried  dead,  and  have  again  instead  of  them 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  87 

fine  lean  capons.  Lean  capons  are  at  8d.  the  piece,  and  9d. 
and  rod.  and  I2d.  Geese  are  at  6d.  and  /d.  a  piece.  Lean 
hens  4d.  and  5d.  Wild  fowl  was  never  so  hard  to  be  gotten. 
There  is  little  taken ;  the  fowlers  do  say  the  cause  is  the 
weather  is  so  rainy,  and  there  is  as  much  wait  laid  for  the 
getting  of  it  as  ever  there  was  for  my  Lady's  Grace  and  for 
divers  others.  I  have  done  as  much  as  I  could  to  have  gotten 
some  for  your  Mastership,  and  for  my  masters  your  sons,  and 
could  get  but  six  teals.  Since  Christmas  there  is  sent  you  of 
your  own  hawk's  killing,  eleven  teals,  two  mallards,  and  eleven 
bitterns.  And  I  humbly  take  my  leave  of  your  Mastership. 
From  Oxburgh,  20  of  December  1563,  by  your  poor  servant, 

"WM.  DEYE." 

It  would  not  have  been  surprising  if  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld 
had  fallen  more  or  less  into  disgrace  at  this  time,  for  Elizabeth 
might  now,  if  she  had  wished,  made  him  feel  the  effects  of  his 
"  scrupulousness "  during  the  period  of  her  captivity.  The 
following  letter  from  the  queen  shows,  however,  that  such  was 
not  the  case : — 

"  To  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld^ 

Knight. 

"  ELIZABETH  R.  By  the  Quene. 

"  Trusty  and  well-beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  Like  as  we 
doubt  not,  but  by  the  common  report  of  the  world,  it  appeareth 
what  great  demonstrations  of  hostility  the  French  make  towards 
this  realm,  by  transporting  great  powers  into  Scotland,  upon 
the  pretence  only  of  their  going  about  the  conquest  of  the  same, 
so  have  we  thought  meet  upon  more  certainty  to  us  of  their 
purpose,  to  have  good  regard  thereto  in  time.  And  being  very 
jealous  of  our  town  of  Berwick,  the  principal  key  of  all  our 
realm,  we  have  determined  to  send  with  speed,  succours  both 
thitherwarcj  and  to  our  frontier,  as  wejl  horsemen  as  footmen, 


88  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  do  also  send  our  right  trusty  and  entirely  beloved  cousin, 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  to  be  our  Lieutenant-General  of  all  the 
North,  from  Trent  forward.  For  which  purpose  we  have 
addressed  our  letters  to  sundry  our  nobility  and  gentlemen  in 
like  manner  as  we  do  this  unto  you,  willing  and  requiring  you 
as  you  tender  and  respect  the  honour  of  us  and  surety  of  your 
country,  to  put  in  readiness,  with  all  speed  possible,  one  able 
man,  furnished  with  a  good  strong  horse  or  gelding,  and  armed 
with  a  corselet,  and  to  send  the  same  to  Newcastle  by  such  day, 
and  with  such  further  order  for  the  furniture  as  shall  be 
appointed  to  you  by  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Sir  Edward 
Wyndham,  Knight,  and  Sir  Christopher  Heydon,  Knight,  whom 
we  have  advertised  of  our  further  pleasure  in  that  behalf.  And 
at  the  arriving  of  the  said  horseman  at  Newcastle,  he  shall  not 
only  receive  money  for  his  route  and  conduct,  but  also  beside 
his  wage  shall  be,  by  the  discretion  of  our  said  cousin  of 
Norfolk,  so  used  and  entreated  as  ye  shall  not  need  to  doubt  of 
the  safe  return  of  the  same,  if  the  casualty  of  death  be  not 
impeached.  And  herein  we  make  such  sure  account  of  your 
forwardness  as  we  thereupon  have  signified  among  others  to 
our  said  cousin  this  our  appointment  and  commandment.  So 
shall  we  make  account  of  you  in  that  behalf,  whereof  we  pray 
you  fail  not. 

"  Given  under  our  signet  at  our  Palace  of  Westminster,  the 
2$th  day  of  September,  in  the  second  year  of  our  reign."1 

It  was  in  consideration  of  this  or  of  some  other  service 
rendered  about  this  time  that  Elizabeth  granted  to  Sir  Henry 
Bedingfeld  and  to  his  heirs  for  ever,  the  manor  of  Caldecot,  in 
Norfolk  "  with  the  impropriation  thereof." 

An  undated  manuscript,  preserved  at  Oxburgh,  containing 

a  plan  of  an  itinerary  for  the  queen's  progress    into    Norfolk, 

would  seem  to  support  the  tradition  that  Elizabeth  visited  that 

place.     Perhaps  she  intended  to  visit  it,  for  immediately  after 

1  The  original  letter  is  at  Oxburgh, 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  89 

Walsingham,  which  then  belonged  to  the  Sidneys,  occurs  the 
sentence :  "  Thence  to  Oxburgh,  Sir  Henry  Bedingfelds." * 
This  document  is  printed  in  Blomefield's  History  of  Norfolk, 
and  the  date  assigned  to  it  is  1578,  presumably  because  this 
was  the  only  time  at  which  Elizabeth  visited  Norfolk.  There 
are,  however,  no  details  of  any  visit  to  Oxburgh,  and  Dr 
Jessopp,  considering  that  the  place  was  quite  out  of  the 
line  of  progress,  is  of  the  opinion  that  she  never  went  there 
at  all.2 

But  there  are  other  and  more  weighty  reasons  than  those  of 
distance  for  arriving  at  this  conclusion.  From  the  year  1569, 
when  the  foremost  English  Catholics  attempted  to  liberate  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots,  the  penal  laws  against  Papists  were  redoubled 
in  severity,  and  those  who  still  clung  to  the  old  religion  fell 
into  disfavour.  Elizabeth  did  indeed  visit  Euston  Hall,  near 
Thetford,  in  1578,  and  Mr  Rookwood  presumed  to  kiss  her 
hand.  But  the  Lord  Chamberlain  severely  reprimanded  him 
for  so  doing,  sternly  bade  him  stand  aside,  and  charged  him 
with  being  a  recusant,  unfit  to  be  in  the  presence,  much 
less  to  touch  the  sacred  person,  of  his  sovereign.  He  was 
required  to  attend  the  Council,  under  surveillance,  and  when 
he  reached  Norwich,  in  the  queen's  train,  was  committed  to 
jail. 

Many  other  recusants  were  treated  in  1578  as  Rookwood 
was.  Two  of  the  Lovells,  Humphrey  Bedingfeld  of  Quidenham, 
Sir  Henry's  brother,  one  Parry,  and  two  others,  "not  worth 
memory  for  badness  of  belyffe,"  were  confined  in  Norwich 
Castle  "  for  obstinate  papystrie."  8 

"  At  Norwich,  the  Queen  lodged  at  the  bishop's  palace,  and 

1  The  so-called  Queen's  room,  a  large  apartment  above  that  in  which 
Henry  VII.  undoubtedly  slept  may,  it  appears  to  the  present  writer,  have 
been  occupied  by  Elizabeth  of  York,  wife  of  Henry  VII.,  who,  it  is  well 
known,  accompanied  him  on,  at  least,  one  pilgrimage  to  Walsingham.    A.S 
she  also  was  Queen  Elizabeth,  this  may  account  for  the  tradition, 

2  One  Generation  of  a  Norfolk  House,  p.  61, 

3  Mason,  History  of  Norfolk^  p.  1 50, 


90  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

spent  her  time,  as  far  as  the  bad  weather  would  allow,  in 
listening  to  absurd  speeches  and  witnessing  grotesque  pageants, 
but  on  the  iQth  August,  she  suddenly  resolved  to  go  a-hunting 
in  the  park  of  Cossey,  five  miles  from  Norwich,  which  belonged 
to  Mr  Henry  Jerningham,  ancestor  of  the  present  Lord 
Stafford.  Once  more  her  host  was  a  recusant,  but  this  time  it 
would  have  been  too  shameless  to  proceed  against  him.  Mr 
Jerningham  had  made  himself  very  conspicuous  in  opposing 
the  abominable  attempts  to  set  aside  Mary  and  Elizabeth  as 
heirs  to  the  Crown  at  the  death  of  Edward  VI.,  and  in  return 
for  his  loyalty,  had  received  this  very  domain  of  Cossey  at 
Queen  Mary's  hands ;  but  for  him  and  his  gallantry  twenty 
years  before,  Elizabeth  herself  might  never  have  been  on  the 
throne.  So  Mr  Jerningham  was  left  unmolested  at  present, 
though  his  time  was  to  come  by-and-bye,  and  when  three  days 
after,  the  Council  met  and  made  order  for  the  committal  to  jail 
of  such  of  the  Norfolk  gentry  as  had  not  kept  their  church,  and 
upon  whom  the  hand  of  power  had  been  so  astutely  laid,  Mr 
Jerningham's  name  was  omitted,  though  his  kinsman's,  Mr 
Bedingfeld's,  name  figures  on  the  list,  only  to  appear  again  and 
again  hereafter." l 

Among  the  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council  for  1578,  it  is  stated 
that  :— 

"  This  day  [August  24th],  there  appeared  before  their  lord- 
ships, as  warned  by  the  Sheriff  of  Norfolk,  amongst  persons 
refusing  to  come  to  the  church  within  that  county,  Sir  Henry 
Bedingfeld,  Knight,  and  Edmund  Wyndham,  Doctor  of  the 
Civil  Law,  who,  standing  in  their  obstinacy  in  refusing  to  come 
to  the  church  in  time  of  prayer,  sermons,  and  other  divine 
service,  were  ordered,  as  others  of  the  same  sort  before,  at 


1  One  Generation  of  a  Norfolk  House,  p.  62.  Dr  Jessopp  is  mistaken  in 
identifying  this  Mr  Jerningham  with  the  friend  and  ally  of  Sir  Henry 
Bedingfeld,  who  was  associated  with  him  in  placing  Mary  on  the  throne. 
Sir  Henry  Jerningham  died  in  1572,  aged  63,  and  Elizabeth's  host  at  Cossey 
was  his  son. 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  91 

Norwich :  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  to  be  bound  in  £500,  and  Mr 
Wyndham  in  £200,  with  the  like  conditions  as  they  that  were 
bound  to  remain  in  their  lodgings  at  Norwich,  as  by  their 
obligations  remaining  in  the  Council  Chest  it  may  appear. 
And  for  that  their  lordships  were  informed  that  divers  of  the 
household  servants  of  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  did  and  do  refuse 
likewise  to  come  to  the  church,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Lord 
Bishop  of  Norwich,  or  some  person  appointed  by  him,  should 
visit  his  household,  and  so  many  of  his  said  servants  as  should 
refuse  to  conform  themselves  to  come  to  the  church  should  be 
discharged  by  the  said  Bishop  or  his  visitors,  in  that  case,  from 
his  service." 

The  Council  then  wrote  to  two  justices  of  the  peace  in 
Norfolk,  ordering  them  to  discharge  Sir  Henry's  servants  "  that 
will  not  come  to  church  as  is  above  said,  and  that  they  be 
not  maintained  by  the  said  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  nor  any 
other  of  their  friends  with  any  exhibition  or  otherwise,  where- 
soever they  shall  bestow  themselves,  nor  that  there  be  not 
any  other  servants  admitted  to  serve  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld 
in  any  place  or  office  about  him  that  shall  be  suspected  to  be 
of  that  disposition  in  religion."  On  receiving  an  order  to 
present  himself  before  the  Privy  Council,  Sir  Henry,  although 
suffering  from  illness,  set  out  for  London.  This  letter,  signed 
by  five  of  the  members,  met  him  on  the  road  : — 

"  To  our  loving  friend,  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld,  Knight. 

"  After  our  hearty  commendations.  Whereas  we  are 
given  to  understand  that  upon  some  letters  heretofore 
written,  you  are  on  the  way  repairing  hither,  forasmuch  as 
we  are  informed  by  your  son-in-law,  Henry  Seckford,  that 
your  sickness  and  infirmity  is  such  as  without  danger  you 
may  not  travel,  we  are  very  well  contented  if  you  shall  not 
like  to  repair  up,  that  you  return  again  to  the  place  where 
you  were  committed,  there  to  remain  until  such  time  as 


92  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

further   order   shall   be    taken    with    you.      And   so   fare  you 
well. 

"From  Richmond,  the  ist  Dec.  1578." 

Further  relief  was  extended  to  him,  as  appears  by  another 
letter  from  the  Council,  allowing  him  to  remain  in  his  house 
till  Lady  Day,  when  he  was  to  appear  and  answer  to  the 
charge  of  papistry,  "unless  in  the  meantime  God  shall  turn 
his  heart  otherwise." 

Slight  as  were  the  penalties  inflicted  on  Sir  Henry  when 
compared  with  those  which  his  brothers  were  called  upon  to 
endure,  troubles  were  not  wanting  to  him  in  his  old  age 
He  was  not  only  a  prisoner  within  five  miles  of  his  own 
house,  subject  to  heavy  fines  for  the  privilege  of  absenting 
himself  from  the  new  service,  but  he  was  liable  at  any  time 
to  have  his  house  searched1  for  priests  and  church-stuff,  to 
have  his  household  dismissed,  and  to  be  called  on  to  endure 
religious  conferences.  He  was,  moreover,  in  feeble  health,  and 
to  complete  his  misfortunes,  his  devoted  wife  was  taken  from 
him.  On  this  occasion  a  letter  from  eight  members  of  the 
Privy  Council  was  delivered  to  him  : — 

"  To  our  loving  friend,  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld. 

"We  commend  us  unto  you.  Whereas  about  three  years 
past,  when  you  were  sent  for  to  have  appeared  before  us, 
touching  your  disobedience  in  Religion,  we  were  then  moved 
in  consideration  of  your  sickness  and  infirmity,  and  the 
humble  suit  of  Henry  Seckford,  your  son,  you  being  then  in 
the  way  hitherward,  to  licence  you  to  return  back  unto  your 
own  house,  whither  you  were  before  committed,  there  to 

1  For  "  the  search  at  Mr  Bedingfeld's  house,"  and  the  anonymous  letter 
which  led  to  it,  see  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Dom.  Eliz.  1581-1590,  p.  648, 
No.  76.  A  copy  of  a  letter  found  directed  to  Cromwell  accused  Sir  Henry 
of  treasonable  designs  in  conjunction  with  papists  and  recusants.  "  Dili- 
gent searches  have  been  made  at  the  house  of  Mr  Henry  Bedingfelde,  but 
nothing  suspicious  found," 


A  NOTABLE  ENGLISHMAN  93 

remain  until  further  order  should  be  taken  with  you.  And 
whereas  at  this  time  your  son  has  made  like  humble  suit 
unto  us  that  you  may  be  suffered  to  remove  from  your 
said  house  unto  St  Mary's,  Wignollen,  in  Marshland,  a 
house  of  your  daughter  Seckford,  there  to  remain  for  a 
season  until  you  may  pass  over  the  grief  and  remembrance 
of  the  lady,  your  wife,  lately  deceased,  these  are  in  that 
respect  to  give  you  licence  so  to  do.  And  therefore  you 
may,  at  your  liking  remove  to  that  place,  continuing 
yourself  in  like  degree  of  restraints  as  you  did  in  your 
own  house,  and  these  shall  be  your  warrant  in  that  behalf. 
So  fare  you  well. 

"From  the  Court  at  Whitehall,  28  of  Dec.  1581.  Your 
loving  friends."1 

Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  succumbed  to  his  infirmities  in  1583, 

1  Exactly  the  same  treatment  was  endured  by  his  descendant  Sir  Henry 
Arundell  Bedingfeld  in  1713.  The  following  instance  affords  a  proof  of  the 
extraordinary  persistence  with  which  the  penal  laws  against  Catholics  were 
enforced  no  years  after  Elizabeth's  death. 


"  Licence  from  the  Justices^  August  10,  iji^for  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  to  go 
from  home  for  a  month. 

"Whereas  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  of  Oxburgh,  Bart,  being  a  recusant, 
and  confined  to  the  usual  place  of  his  abode,  or  within  the  compass  of  five 
miles  from  the  same,  and  whereas  it  has  been  represented  to  us  on  the  part 
of  the  said  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  that  he  has  very  necessary  and  urgent 
business,  which  does  require  his  attention  at  this  time,  and  whereas  the  said 
Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  has  made  an  oath  before  us  of  the  truth  of  the  same, 
and  that  he  will  not  make  any  causeless  stay  from  his  said  place  of  habita- 
tion, we  therefore,  four  of  his  Majesty's  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  said 
county  upon  examination  taken  by  us  as  of  the  premisses,  do  give  this  our 
licence  to  the  said  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld  to  travel  out  of  the  precincts  or 
compass  of  five  miles  from  the  place  of  his  abode  limited  by  the  statute  at 
all  times,  from  the  13  of  this  instant  August,  until  the  thirteenth  of  September 
following,  by  which  time  he  is  to  return  again  to  his  place  of  abode  at  the 
parish  of  Oxburgh,  aforesaid.  Given  under  our  hand  and  seal  this  loth  of 
August  1713."  Signed  in  the  margin,  "E.  BACON,  T.  DE  GREY,  THO. 
WRIGHT,  NATH.  LIFE,  H.  PARTRIDGE,  Dep.  Lieut.  I  do  assent  to  this 
licence? 

I 


94  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  was  buried  in  the  Bedingfeld  chapel  in  Oxburgh  church, 
where  an  elaborate  monument  to  his  memory  may  still  be 
seen.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  loss  of  the  Privy 
Council  Registers  for  the  year  1583  entails  also  the  loss  of 
any  mention  of  the  last  days  of  this  celebrated  Englishman. 


IV 


IN  spite  of  the  valiant  efforts  of  isolated  Catholic  reformers 
in  Germany,  to  stem  the  tide  of  corruption  which  threatened 
to  sweep  the  Church  into  a  vortex  of  ruin,  for  a  long  time 
little  impression  was  made  on  the  vast  sea  of  abuses,  and 
but  little  permanent  good  was  effected.  It  almost  seemed 
as  though  the  Poor  Clares  of  Nuremburg,  the  brave  Domini- 
canesses of  Strassburg,  Johannes  Busch,  Johannes  Geiler, 
Cardinal  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  St  John  Capistran,  the  Brethren 
of  the  Common  Life,  and  the  celebrated  author  of  the 
Imitation  of  Christ  had  lived  and  fought,  suffered  and 
preached,  in  vain.  They,  and  some  few  others  were  like 
brilliant  meteors,  only  making  the  darkness  of  the  night 
more  apparent. 

The  nations  were  as  little  responsive  to  preachers  of 
reform  as  were  the  princes  of  Europe  to  the  appeals  of  the 
Pope  for  a  crusade  against  the  infidel  Turk,  who  menaced, 
after  his  conquest  of  Constantinople,  the  very  centre  of 
Christendom.  While  the  citadel  was  in  danger,  those  who 
should  have  assembled  vast  cohorts  in  its  defence  were 
either  suffering  from  the  inertia  that  follows  on  some  kinds 
of  disease,  or  were  actively  employed  in  spreading  the  new 
heresies.  Then  at  last  struck  the  hour  for  the  dawning  of 
a  new  day.  And  here  perhaps  lies  the  solution  to  the  problem 
why  so  much  energy,  self-denial,  penance  on  the  part  of  the 

05 


96  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

preachers  of  reform,  produced  so  little  result ;  why  such 
brave  efforts  failed  to  restore,  renew  and  edify  the  Church. 
Was  she  then  incapable  of  rising  to  a  new  life  ?  The  answer 
lies  in  the  words  of  her  Divine  Founder :  "  My  hour  is  not  yet 
come."  Until  then,  all  reformers  preached  more  or  less  in  the 
wilderness ;  for  few  had  ears  to  hear.  God's  hour  was  assuredly 
winging  its  flight,  but  it  would  not  come  till  the  Church 
was  almost  in  extremis;  till  decay  of  faith  following  on 
decay  of  morals  threatened  her  very  existence.  The  catas- 
trophe was  hastened  by  the  fatal  pouring  of  the  new  wine 
of  the  later  Renaissance  into  the  old,  now  worn-out  bottles  of 
Mediaevalism,  thereby  paganising  Rome  and  corrupting  the 
College  of  Cardinals  to  so  large  an  extent,  that  the  election 
to  the  papacy  of  a  Rodrigo  Borgia  was  made  possible. 

Neither  the  fiery  denunciations  of  Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola, 
nor  the  cold  sarcasms  of  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam  had  a  more 
lasting  effect  on  the  world  than  had  Busch's  missionary  zeal 
or  Geiler's  ascetic  discourses.  Then  arose  Martin  Luther, 
and  centered  in  himself  all  those  scandals  and  floating 
heresies,  which  for  a  hundred  years  had  poisoned  the 
spiritual  and  intellectual  atmosphere.  Insidious  disease 
lurking  in  dark  places  was  now  become  a  stalking  pestilence 
that  braved  the  daylight  unabashed.  Faith  was  all  but 
moribund.  But  the  Church's  extremity  was  God's  oppor- 
tunity ;  His  hour  had  struck  at  last,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  brooded  on  the  face  of  the  waters. 

Then  the  whole  situation  was  changed.  The  enemy  was 
not  yet  crushed,  but  formidable  hosts  were  everywhere  set  in 
opposition  to  him.  Instead  of  isolated  efforts  there  was  an 
almost  universal  movement  towards  reform.  Begun  in  Italy, 
it  spread  into  every  country  of  Europe.  Seminaries  sprang 
up  for  the  education  of  priests ;  St  Philip  Neri  became 
the  Apostle  of  Rome,  St  Charles  Borromeo  that  of  Milan. 
The  Order  of  Theatines  was  founded,  and  the  Barnabite  Order, 
devoted  to  the  education  of  youth  was  ready  to  send  its 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY        97 

members  wherever  the  need  was  greatest.  Above  all,  the 
long-deferred  General  Council,  assembled  at  Trent  in  1545, 
gave  cohesion  to  all  the  various  movements  that  were  set  on 
foot  by  defining  disputed  doctrines,  and  by  drawing  up  a 
formula  which  declared  the  belief  of  the  Catholic  Church  on 
all  points  attacked  by  the  new  sectaries.  The  Church  was 
threatened  with  a  dozen  heresies,  but  so  completely  did  she 
vindicate  her  doctrines  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  that  for  more 
than  three  hundred  years  no  further  General  Council  was 
needed.  If  Italy  may  boast  of  the  victories  achieved  by  her 
great  Catholic  reformers,  France,  though  somewhat  later  in 
the  field  had  her  Bossuet,  Bourdaloue,  St  Francis  of  Sales, 
St  Vincent  of  Paul,  and  many  other  Catholic  champions.  To 
Spain  were  given  St  Ignatius  of  Loyola,  St  Francis  Borgia, 
St  Francis  Xavier,  St  Peter  of  Alcantara,  St  John  of  the 
Cross,  St  John  of  God,  St  Joseph  Calasanctius,  St  Teresa, 
and  others  whose  names  have  first  added  a  splendour  to 
their  native  land,  and  have  then  gone  forth  to  illumine  the 
uttermost  ends  of  the  earth. 

St  Ignatius  died  in  1556,  but  the  effect  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus  on  the  Church  was  only  just  beginning.  One  of 
the  earliest  and  most  important  tasks  of  his  immediate 
disciples  was  the  formation  of  the  Carmelite  nun  Teresa, 
and  her  spiritual  guidance  in  the  unusual  paths  she  was  called 
to  tread.  Even  in  Catholic  Spain  hearts  had  grown  cold 
and  minds  lax.  The  religious  houses  had  long  fallen  from 
their  first  fervour.  During  the  space  of  sixteen  years  St 
Teresa  founded  seventeen  convents,  all  following  the  original 
strict  Carmelite  rule.  As  early  as  1474  Pope  Eugenius 
IV.  had  formed  the  project  of  re-establishing  the  strict 
observance  of  the  rule  in  all  religious  communities,  but  the 
times  were  not  then  favourable  for  carrying  it  out.  He  had 
therefore  approved  provisionally  of  a  mitigated  rule  for 
all  Carmelite  houses,  by  means  of  which  discipline  was  to  be 
restored.  The  Carmelite  general,  John  Soreth,  made  great 

G 


5fi  SfUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

efforts  to  enforce  it,  but  his  success  was  partial  and  short- 
lived. 

In  1524,  when  Teresa  de  Ahumeda  was  still  a  child, 
Clement  VII.  addressed  a  brief  to  the  General  Chapter  of 
the  Carmelites,  assembled  at  Venice,  commanding  them  to 
reform  their  order.  The  brief  was  cordially  received,  and 
the  Chapter  passed  many  resolutions  all  aiming  at  the 
removal  of  abuses,  such  as  the  careless  and  hasty  admission 
of  members,  so  that  thenceforth  no  person  might  be  received 
into  the  order  without  the  consent  of  the  provincial,  or  before 
the  age  of  fifteen.  Another  resolution  passed  in  this  Chapter 
referred  to  the  private  property  of  the  friars ;  but  lest  more 
harm  than  good  should  be  done  by  sudden  and  violent 
measures,  it  was  decreed  that  in  every  province  certain 
houses  should  be  set  apart  for  those  members  who  had 
received  the  mitigated  rule  of  Pope  Eugenius,  and  who  were 
therefore  considered  as  reformed.  But  together  with  these 
houses  others  should  be  tolerated  for  a  season,  while  the 
religious  were  gradually  accustomed  to  a  state  of  discipline. 
Those  who  had  not  accepted  the  mitigated  rule  were  to  be 
allowed  temporarily  to  enjoy  their  patrimony,  as  also  the 
emoluments  accruing  to  them  from  teaching,  preaching,  and 
other  services  rendered.  There  was  to  be  no  difference  in 
their  treatment,  and  the  religious  habit  was  to  be  the  same 
for  the  reformed  and  the  unreformed  brethren.  Subsequent 
Chapters-General  continued  to  pass  similar  wise  regulations, 
but  they  were  by  no  means  promptly  carried  out ;  and  at 
Vicenza,  in  1539,  it  was  decreed  that  provincials  and  friars 
must  undertake  the  reform  of  their  convents  in  the  course  of 
one  year,  in  default  of  which  their  subjects  were  to  be  released 
from  the  obedience  they  owed  them.  Only  reformed  friars 
might  be  elected  superiors.1 

At  this  assembly,  the  representatives  of  the  Lower  Rhine 
Province  were  Theodoric  of  Gouda,  Martin  Cuperus,  and 
1  Monsignanus,  Bullarium,  ii.  59  c,  47  b. 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY        99 

Eberhard  Billick.  They  presented  a  petition  praying  that 
the  Universities  of  Mainz  and  Trier  might  be  included  in 
the  course  open  to  Carmelite  students,  the  reason  being  that 
in  order  to  successfully  combat  the  Lutheran  heresies,  great 
need  was  felt  of  men  of  wide  knowledge,  possessing  degrees 
high  enough  to  inspire  respect  in  their  opponents.  Many 
students,  by  reason  of  the  evil  times,  were  not  in  a  position 
to  meet  the  expenses  attendant  upon  a  sojourn  at  Cologne 
and  Louvain,  and  the  living  at  Mainz  and  Trier  was  cheaper. 
To  this  petition  the  Carmelite  general  answered  by  ranking 
Cologne  first,  Louvain  second,  Mainz  third,  and  Trier  fourth, 
in  the  curriculum  of  studies. 

But  the  progress  made  in  Germany  was  the  reverse  of 
rapid ;  opposition  was  encountered  at  every  step ;  neverthe- 
less, the  resolutions  passed  at  the  Chapter-General  at  Venice 
in  1524,  had  introduced  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge,  and  it  is 
apparent  from  the  decrees  of  the  Provincial  Chapter  held  at 
Mechlin  in  1531,  and  presided  over  by  the  general  himself,  that 
nearly  all  the  houses  of  the  Lower  Rhine  Province  had  by 
that  time  accepted  the  mitigated  rule.  It  was  enforced  in 
this  Chapter  that  if  a  convent  fell  away  from  the  reform,  the 
provincial  was  to  appoint  a  reformed  prior,  and  to  send  thither 
reformed  brethren.  Friars  who  refused  the  reform  were  to 
be  banished  for  ten  years.  Another  accentuated  point  was 
the  rule  which  forbade  the  possession  of  private  property. 
One  common  purse  only  was  allowed,  and  thenceforth,  no 
Carmelite  might,  under  pain  of  excommunication,  keep  money 
in  his  possession  for  more  than  twenty-four  hours.  Absolution 
for  an  infringement  of  this  rule  could  only  be  obtained  from 
the  provincial  or  general.  Those  religious,  who  at  their  death 
were  found  to  possess  property  were  to  be  buried  in  unconse- 
crated  ground.  When,  a  year  later,  Theodoric  of  Gouda  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  Chapter-General  held  at  Padua,  he  was 
able  to  state  that  the  Lower  Rhine  Province  had  joined  the 
observance,  and  was  entitled  to  the  privileges  belonging  thereto, 


100  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

But  another  and  more  insidious  danger  had  arisen.  In 
many  of  the  Carmelite  houses  of  Germany  the  new  doctrines 
had  been  more  than  favourably  received  ;  and  at  Strassburg, 
the  rector,  Tilmann  Lyn  had  been  deprived  of  his  office  for 
having  openly  preached  the  Lutheran  heresy.  Three  other 
friars  of  the  same  house  who  with  him  had  gone  astray  were 
imprisoned.  In  vain  the  friars  were  forbidden,  under  pain  of 
excommunication,  to  possess  or  to  read  books  that  had  been 
condemned  by  the  Holy  See.  Heretical  writings  continued  to 
find  entrance  into  many  of  the  religious  houses,  and  were 
even  read  aloud  in  refectories,  and  used  as  text-books  by  the 
professors.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  some  of  these 
books,  including  several  works  of  Erasmus  which  were  also 
prohibited,  would  now  scarcely  come  into  the  category  of 
heretical  writings.  Still,  many  of  the  diatribes  which  Erasmus 
permitted  himself  against  the  religious  orders  were  not  in  any 
sense  edifying,  though  there  was  much  truth  in  his  pungent 
satire;  so  that  the  papal  legate  Aleander  did  not  hesitate 
to  declare  that  the  Dutch  scholar  had  done  more  to  undermine 
faith  than  even  Luther,  and  he  accused  him  of  being  the  fomenter 
of  all  the  troubles,  of  subverting  the  Netherlands,  and  all  the 
Rhine  district.  This  may  indeed  have  been  the  truth  indirectly 
in  spite  of  the  certainty  that  Erasmus  had  no  intention  of 
playing  into  the  hands  of  the  Lutherans,  whom  he  hated. 
But  he  was  a  cynic,  and  a  cynic's  eyes  are  not  the  best 
through  which  to  see  things.  The  monks  offended  him,  and 
he  poured  out  upon  them,  not  the  vials  of  his  wrath  but  the 
sharp  vinegar  of  sarcasm.  His  favourite,  oft-recurring  themes, 
the  ignorance,  immorality,  and  greed  to  be  found  in  monasteries, 
the  quarrelsomeness  and  worldliness  of  the  friars  would  lead 
the  unwary  to  suppose  that  there  was  not  a  religious  community 
left  where  the  rule  was  kept  and  the  religious  led  commonly 
respectable  lives.  But  even  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Erasmus 
shows  us  that  he  is  incapable  of  justice  towards  monks  and 
friars.  They  loved  scholasticism,  the  enemy  which  he  con- 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       101 

sidered  himself  born  to  slay,  and  there  was  war  to  the  knife 
between  him  and  all  upholders  of  Scotus  and  Aquinas.  The 
monks  of  the  Charterhouse,  who  died  the  death  of  martyrs 
rather  than  perjure  themselves,  win  no  meed  of  praise  from 
Erasmus — they  were,  forsooth,  schoolmen ;  and  the  noble 
Friars-Observants  who,  when  threatened  with  a  living  tomb  in 
the  river  Thames,  for  the  same  cause,  calmly  replied  that  the 
road  to  heaven  was  as  near  by  water  as  by  land,  are  nothing 
to  him,  for  did  they  not  learn  their  theology  of  Duns  Scotus  ? 
Even  Henry  VIII.  himself  at  one  time  begged  the  Pope's 
favour  for  the  Observants,  saying  that  he  could  not  sufficiently 
express  his  admiration  for  their  strict  adherence  to  poverty, 
for  their  sincerity,  their  charity,  their  devotion  ; l  but  they  were 
Scotists,  and  Erasmus  could  not  therefore  admire  them. 

From  his  own  showing  it  appears  that  the  Canons  Regular 
of  St  Augustine  at  Emmaus  in  Holland  led  a  good  life,  but 
he  makes  no  honourable  exception  of  them  when  he  denounces 
other  houses.  He  complains  of  all  monks  that  they  are 
gluttons  and  wine-bibbers,  utterly  careless  of  their  rule ;  yet 
his  own  plea  for  returning  to  the  world  after  taking  his  vows 
is  that  his  health  would  not  stand  the  fasts  and  vigils,  the 
long  prayers  and  the  fish  diet,  things  which  accord  ill  with  a 
reputation  for  laxity.  In  a  letter  to  his  former  prior,  he  says  : 
"  I  left  my  profession,  not  because  I  had  any  fault  to  find 
with  it,  but  because  I  would  not  be  a  scandal  to  the  order." 
And  again,  "  My  constitution  was  too  weak  to  bear  your 
rule."2  These  are  either  empty  phrases,  or  they  mean  that 
the  life  was  a  strict  one. 

Nevertheless  it  would  be  idle  to  say  that  there  was  not 
or  had  not  ;been  a  great  falling-off  in  the  fervour  of  monks 
and  friars  generally  at  this  period.  As  the  new  doctrines 

1  Henry  VIII.   to  Leo  X.,  Add.  MS.  15,387,  f.  17;  B.M.    Printed  by 
Ellis,  3,  ist  series,  165. 

2  Life  and  Letters  of  Erasmus,  lectures  delivered  at  Oxford  by  J.  A. 
Froude,  pp.  24,  162, 


102  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

spread,  so  did  also  the  distaste  for  the  religious  life,  and  the 
number  of  those  who  renounced  their  vows  increased  yearly. 
But  many,  from  various  causes,  soon  repented,  and  desired  to 
return  to  the  cloister,  and  it  became  necessary  to  legislate  for 
such  contingencies  also.  Moreover,  it  was  made  obligatory  on 
every  prior  to  arrest  notorious  apostates,  and  all  those  who, 
without  letters  of  obedience,  or  who,  abusing  them,  were 
found  wandering  about  the  country.  They  were  to  be 
punished  conformably  to  the  rule,  and  if  necessary  were  to 
be  imprisoned. 

One  good  effect  at  least  resulted  from  Erasmus's  attacks 
on  the  ignorance  of  monks,  and  this  was  the  revival  of  learning 
in  most  of  the  religious  orders.  Every  inducement  was  offered 
by  the  Carmelite  superiors  in  the  Lower  Rhine  Province  to 
cultivate  a  taste  for  study.  Those  who  had  gone  through  a 
three  or  four  years'  course  of  theology  creditably  had  a  distinct 
right  to  a  post  of  some  dignity,  and  took  rank  immediately 
after  those  priests  of  the  order  who  had  celebrated  their 
jubilee,  and  before  all  conventuals  who  had  an  inferior  record 
as  to  studies.  The  faithful  discharge  of  offices  for  a  prolonged 
period  was  also  rewarded  by  honourable  recognition.  The 
sentiments  thus  appealed  to  may  not  have  been  of  the  loftiest, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  reform  was  to  be  gradual, 
and  higher  motives  could  be  suggested  when  the  subject  was 
ready  for  them.  The  superiors  of  this  province  were  supported 
in  all  their  efforts  by  the  general,  who  was  bent  on  a  thorough 
renewal  of  the  religious  spirit  throughout  the  Order;  but  in 
the  midst  of  all  these  righteous  aspirations  it  is  a  little  startling 
to  find  that  a  decree  of  the  Chapter-General  was  needed  to 
put  down  drinking-bouts  in  sundry  houses  of  the  Rhine 
Province.1 

In  1541,  Eberhard  Billick  was  appointed  provincial,  and 
almost  immediately  began  to  visit  the  houses  in  his  jurisdiction. 

1  Dr  Alois  Postina,  Der  Karmelit  Eberhard  Billick.  Ein  Lebensbild 
aus  dem  16,  Jahrhundert,  Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  1901,  p.  25. 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY      103 

At  Cologne  he  found  a  condition  of  things  sufficient  to  make 
the  boldest  reformer  quail.  The  Lutherans  had  entirely  gained 
the  upper  hand,  and  a  certain  Count  William  of  Neuenar 
and  Mors,  who  had  been  for  some  time  a  follower  of  the  new 
doctrines,  was  bent  on  introducing  them  by  force  into  Mors. 
He  first  forbade  the  practise  of  the  Catholic  religion  among 
his  tenants,  and  then  tried  to  seduce  the  religious.  They 
were  forbidden  to  say  Mass  except  on  Sundays,  and  then 
even  none  outside  the  convent  were  to  be  admitted  to  it. 
Their  church  was  given  over  to  the  Lutherans,  and  the  friars 
were  forced  into  being  present  at  the  Protestant  sermons. 
Not  content  with  this,  Count  William  inflicted  seven  Lutheran 
beneficiaries  upon  them,  obliging  them  to  lodge  and  feed 
them  gratis.  Lutheran  preachers  and  school  teachers  were 
salaried  out  of  the  convent  revenues,  which  the  Count 
managed  by  fraud  and  cunning  to  confiscate.  That  portion 
of  the  convent  buildings  which  bordered  on  his  property 
he  turned  into  stables  for  his  own  horses,  so  that  entrance 
to  the  friar's  quarters  was  open  to  his  servants,  while  the 
Carmelites  were  themselves  forbidden  to  go  in  and  out  on  that 
side. 

The  new  Provincial  succeeded  in  time  by  dint  of  courage 
and  firmness,  in  getting  back  all  that  the  Count  had  seized 
by  force ;  but  other  houses  were  in  as  deplorable  a  condition, 
and  little  could  be  done  to  improve  matters.  Billick  appealed 
to  the  Emperor,  who  had  taken  all  the  Carmelite  convents 
in  Lower  Germany  under  his  protection ;  but  the  Emperor's 
goodwill  surpassed  his  power  to  help,  the  whole  of  his 
money  and  energy  being  needed  to  oppose  the  Turks,  the 
French,  and  the  Duke  of  Cleves. 

The  greatest  danger  and  difficulty  lay  in  the  behaviour  of 
Count  Hermann  of  Wied,  Archbishop  and  Elector  of  Cologne. 
From  the  outset  his  rule  had  been  detrimental  to  the  Church. 
The  best  that  could  be  said  of  him  in  his  youth  was  that 
he  was  "  kind  and  peace-loving,  fond  of  hunting,  but  not 


104  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

particularly  learned."  Charles  V.,  in  a  letter  to  the  landgrave 
Philip  of  Hessen,  who  had  joined  the  Lutherans,  says :  "  How 
should  the  good  man  be  able  to  reform  his  diocese  ?  He  has 
no  Latin,  and  has  never  said  more  than  three  Masses  in  his 
life.  He  does  not  even  know  the  Confiteor"  Philip  replied  : 
"  I  can  assure  your  Majesty  that  he  reads  German  industriously, 
and  interests  himself  in  religious  questions." 

Unfortunately,  these  "  religious  questions  "  threw  the  arch- 
bishop into  the  arms  of  the  Lutherans,  and  already  in  1536, 
Aleander  considered  him  as  much  lost  to  the  Church  as  Philip 
of  Hessen  himself,  who  made  no  secret  of  his  apostasy. 
Melancthon  was  his  dear  friend  already  when  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Martin  Bucer  at  the  Diet  of  Hagenau  in 
1540. 

Two  years  later,  Archbishop  Hermann  invited  this  violent 
and  notorious  heretic  to  preach  in  the  minster  at  Bonn. 
Immediately,  Cologne  rose  up  in  protest,  and  the  Cathedral 
Chapter,  the  clergy  and  the  Magistral  presented  the  arch- 
bishop with  a  remonstrance.  Hermann  replied  by  sending 
Melancthon  to  support  Bucer  at  Bonn,  and  thus,  by  entrusting 
the  work  of  reform  to  men  whose  sole  aim  was  to  subvert 
Catholic  doctrine  and  to  disorganise  Christian  society,  proved 
himself  faithless  to  the  solemn  promise  he  had  made  neither 
to  introduce  religious  novelties  into  his  diocese,  nor  to  abolish 
customs  founded  on  Catholic  tradition. 

The  Chapter,  fully  alive  to  the  critical  nature  of  the  situation, 
drew  up  a  memorandum,  dated  5th  February  1543,  in  which 
they  showed  good  reasons  why  Bucer  could  not  be  tolerated 
as  a  minister  of  religion  in  the  diocese.  His  broken  vows,  his 
marriage,  his  open  profession  of  Luther's  doctrines,  proved 
sufficiently  that  he  was  no  longer  a  member  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  Further,  his  preaching  at  Strassburg  had  resulted 
directly  in  the  wholesale  destruction  of  images  and  altars,  and 
ultimately  in  the  abolition  of  the  Mass  in  that  place.  The 
memorandum  wept  on  to  affirm  that,  in  patronising  such  a  man. 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       105 

the  Archbishop  was  acting  in  direct  disobedience  to  the  Pope 
and  to  the  Emperor. 

Bucer's  answer  to  these  objections  was  devised  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  cause  his  opponents  some  embarrassment.  It 
was  written  in  the  Swiss  dialect,  an  unknown  tongue  to  the 
clergy  of  Cologne,  as  well  as  to  the  university.  Nevertheless, 
before  long,  an  epitome  of  its  purport  was  furnished  to  the 
Chapter,  and  the  refutation  of  the  doctrines  therein  set  forth 
was  entrusted  to  the  Carmelite  provincial,  Billick. 

The  two  champions  were  personally  not  unknown  to  each 
other,  as  they  had  met  at  the  Diets  of  Worms  and  Regensburg, 
where  Billick  had  made  a  point  of  studying  the  Strassburg 
heresiarch  carefully.  The  Carmelite  now  skilfully  exposed  the 
weakness  of  Bucer's  arguments,  together  with  his  frequent 
misinterpretation  of  Scripture  and  the  Fathers,  Billick  showing 
himself  to  be  an  experienced  polemical  writer ;  but  the  taste 
and  tone  of  his  book  are  repugnant  to  modern  ideas,  and 
betray  the  same  acrimony  which  characterises  the  writings  of 
Luther  against  Erasmus,  and  vice  versA.  Accusations  of 
hatred,  cunning,  lying,  slandering,  and  double-dealing,  are 
cast  like  a  hail  of  bullets,  with  no  especial  aim  at  any  of  Bucer's 
arguments  in  particular.  Interspersed  with  much  able  criticism 
are  choice  epithets  of  abuse  and  reflections  on  Bucer's 
personal  character,  which,  although  perfectly  in  accordance 
with  sixteenth  century  methods  of  controversy,  are  quite  beside 
the  mark,  and  certainly  not  such  as  to  promote  peace  in  any 
age. 

What  the  Church  in  Germany  needed  at  this  juncture,  was 
not  so  much  a  fiery  defender  of  the  faith,  or  a  scholar  to  taunt 
the  heretics  in  finely-pointed  sarcasm  with  their  want  of  learning, 
as  a  saint,  demonstrating  in  his  own  life  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
while  laying  aside  polemics,  he  expounded  the  philosophy  of 
Catholic  doctrine.  The  need  for  reform  was  patent  to  all ;  many, 
like  the  zealous  Carmelite  provincial,  were  already  putting 
their  hands  to  the  plough.  The  movement  had  been  set  on 


100  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

foot,  but  it  lacked  an  apostle  to  lead  and  govern  it.  Such  a 
man  was  at  that  moment  being  formed  at  the  University  of 
Cologne — the  second  apostle  of  Germany,  as  St  Boniface  had 
been  the  first — Blessed  Peter  Canisius. 

Canisius  was  a  native  of  Nymwegen  in  the  Low  Countries, 
and  was  born  on  8th  May  1521.  Having  studied  at  Paris  and 
Orleans,  he  became  tutor  to  the  sons  of  Ren6,  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  whose  wife  was  Philippine  of  Guelderland.  From 
an  early  age  Peter  had  desired  to  consecrate  himself  to  God 
in  the  priesthood,  and  his  father  having  given  his  consent,  the 
young  man  proceeded  to  Cologne  for  his  course  of  theology 
and  civil  and  canon  law.  No  sooner  did  he  appear  in  the 
lecture  rooms  than  he  attracted  universal  attention.  It  was 
not  merely  the  clearness  and  conciseness  of  his  reasoning,  nor 
altogether  the  humility  of  his  bearing,  but  perhaps  the  mingled 
charm  of  each  that  roused  the  interest  of  professors  and 
students  alike.  That  interest  led  them  to  watch  him  closely, 
and  they  not  only  noticed  that  he  seemed  altogether 
unconscious  of  the  plaudits  which  he  excited,  but  they  dis- 
covered that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  imposing  privations  on 
himself,  in  order  to  have  money  to  give  to  poor  students, 
that  these  might  be  better  fed  and  clothed,  and  more  amply 
furnished  with  books.  It  was  soon  related  of  him  that  he 
frequently  went  out  of  his  way  to  instruct,  counsel,  and  rescue 
those  (and  there  were  many  of  them  at  Cologne)  who  had  fallen 
upon  evil  ways.  Broad-minded,  large-hearted,  enlightened 
beyond  his  companions,  and  possessing  a  strong  and  well- 
balanced  character,  it  needed  no  great  gift  of  prophecy  to 
foresee  that  Peter  Canisius  would  do  great  things  in  the 
future. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Father  Peter  Faber,  the  first  associate 
of  St  Ignatius,  was  at  Mainz,  whither  he  had  been  sent  by 
Pope  Paul  III.  to  counteract  the  spread  of  the  new  doctrines 
by  all  the  means  in  his  power.  His  reputation  for  holiness 
was  so  great  in  the  Society  of  Jesus,  that  St  Francis  Xavier 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       107 

invoked  him  when  in  danger  from  a  storm  at  sea,  and  inserted 
his  name  in  the  Litany  of  the  Saints  while  he  was  yet  living. 
At  Mainz  Father  Faber  gave  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St 
Ignatius,  and  obtained  many  wonderful  conversions. 

His  fame  soon  reached  Cologne,  where  Canisius,  yet 
uncertain  as  to  his  future,  was  praying,  studying,  and  exercising 
himself  in  all  good  works.  Suddenly,  it  became  clear  to  him 
that  his  vocation  would  be  made  known  to  him  through  Father 
Peter  Faber.  He  hastened  to  Mainz,  and  at  their  first  interview 
Canisius  was  convinced  that  he  was  called  to  join  the  new 
Society.  He  made  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  and  on  the  fourth 
day  bound  himself  by  a  vow  to  do  so.  He  returned  to  Cologne 
as  a  novice,  and  continued  to  live  much  as  before,  pursuing 
his  theological  studies  and  making  a  deep  impression  on  all 
those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Associated  with  two 
other  novices,  also  university  students — the  Spaniards  Alfonsus 
Alvarez  and  John  of  Arragon — he  received  a  common  rule  of 
life  from  Faber,  and  in  their  zeal  they  soon  exceeded  it.  They 
preached,  instructed  children  in  Christian  doctrine,  begged  alms 
for  the  poor  from  door  to  door,  nursed  the  sick  in  the  hospitals, 
and,  in  short,  seized  every  opportunity  of  self-denial  and 
humiliation. 

When  Faber  heard  of  all  this  he  wrote  to  Canisius,  com- 
mending the  charity  of  the  trio,  but  reminding  them  at  the 
same  time  that  study  was  their  paramount  duty,  and  would 
lead  to  more  valuable  work  in  the  future  than  anything  they 
could  then  do  for  souls. 

"  As  obedience  requires  you  to  finish  your  course  of 
theology,"  he  wrote,  "  you  must  not  neglect  it,  thinking  to  do 
more  by  succouring  your  neighbour  in  his  temporal  neces- 
sities." 

Soon  Faber  came  himself  to  Cologne,  and  lodged  with  the 
Carthusians,  those  valiant  sons  of  St  Bruno,  whose  boast  it 
is  never  to  have  quite  departed  from  the  spirit  of  their 
founder, 


108  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

On  the  8th  May  1545,  his  twenty-fourth  birthday,  Peter 
Canisius  made  the  three  simple  vows  of  the  Society  and  the 
same  year  was  ordained  priest  By  this  time  his  reputation  as 
a  Catholic  reformer  was  as  great  as  his  reputation  for  learning. 
His  capacity  for  work  was  prodigious.  He  lectured  twice 
daily  ;  every  Sunday  he  preached  in  one  of  the  churches,  great 
crowds  flocking  to  hear  him.  At  home,  every  hour  was 
occupied  either  in  teaching  or  in  receiving  those  who  came  to 
him  for  advice  and  help  in  their  doubts.  He  answered  them 
all  with  so  much  insight,  wisdom,  gentleness,  and  humility,  that 
even  Lutherans  dropped  the  usual  epithets,  and  spoke  of  him 
with  respect.  Every  free  moment  was  devoted  to  literary 
work,  which  also  obtained  a  certain  celebrity. 

But  to  all  these  strenuous  efforts  the  Archbishop  Elector 
Hermann  von  Wied  persistently  remained  a  stranger.  Rela- 
tions between  himself  and  his  Chapter  were  strained  to  the 
utmost.  A  deputation  of  his  clergy  had  waited  upon  him  and 
solemnly  entreated  him  to  retrace  his  steps,  and  to  cancel  the 
novelties  he  had  introduced.  On  his  refusal,  they  declared  that 
they  would  with  a  clear  conscience,  and  for  fear  of  incurring 
the  divine  wrath  if  they  further  delayed,  proceed  by  all  legiti- 
mate means  to  remove  so  grievous  a  scandal.  Then  the 
Chapter,  including  representatives  of  the  lower  ranks  of  the 
clergy  and  the  university,  made  a  public  protest,  and  drew  up 
appeals  to  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor.  They  at  once  informed 
the  archbishop  of  these  measures,  and  again  attempted  before 
taking  irrevocable  steps  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  solution.  But 
all  was  useless ;  and,  forced  to  extremities,  they  solicited  for  their 
appeal  the  support  of  other  dioceses  and  learned  academies, 
in  order  to  obtain  more  speedy  relief.  The  best  and  most 
distinguished  of  the  bishops  and  clergy,  as  well  as  the  univer- 
sities of  the  whole  province,  joined  in  the  appeal,  and  the 
University  of  Ingolstadt  also  signified  its  intention  of  seconding 
them. 

fhe   archbishop   on   his   part  was  also  careful  to  procure 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY      109 

himself  allies.  As  Elector  of  Cologne  he  summoned  the 
Landtag,  and  its  members  declared  themselves  in  his  favour. 
The  landgrave,  Philip  of  Hessen,  to  whom  Luther  had  given 
licence  to  commit  bigamy,  and  other  Protestant  princes  natur- 
ally promised  him  their  support,  and  the  Schmalkaldian  League 
did  likewise. 

The  Catholics  of  Cologne  agitated  that  the  case  might  be 
brought  before  the  Reichstag  at  Worms,  to  which  they  had 
sent  their  representative,  the  Dominican,  Johann  Pessel. 

But  the  archbishop  appealed  to  a  General  Council,  or  rather 
to  a  National  Synod,  to  be  held  in  Germany  and  to  be  entirely 
independent  of  the  Pope. 

At  this  juncture  Eberhard  Billick  wrote  one  of  his  most 
violent  letters  to  Pessel,  attacking  the  counter  appeal  of  the 
archbishop  which  would  shortly  be  presented  to  the  Reichstag, 
and  which  was  calculated  by  its  affectation  of  piety  to  deceive 
even  the  elect  But  let  them  be  on  their  guard.  It  would  be 
seen  that  Hermann  despised  the  Pope,  the  Emperor,  and  the 
CEcumenical  Council  already  assembled  at  Trent.  He  set  his 
own  authority  above  all  councils,  although  they  had  been 
instituted  by  the  common  consent  of  Christendom,  and  he 
appealed  to  a  lawless,  headless  council  which  might  only  meet 
at  Bonn  or  at  Schmalkald,  in  order  that  it  might  be  unrestrained 
by  any  authority  whatever.  There  was,  continued  the  Carmelite, 
no  end  to  the  archbishop's  innovations.  In  defiance  of  all 
justice  and  precedent  he  had  transferred  the  Chapter  to  Bonn, 
where  people  and  preachers  were  split  up  into  parties,  and 
persecuted  each  other  with  persistent  malice.  This  he  had 
done,  not  because  there  was  any  greater  safety  at  Bonn  than 
at  Cologne,  where  senate,  clergy,  and  people  lived  in  peace 
and  unity  as  before,  and  where  his  friends  in  the  Chapter 
might  act  with  all  freedom,1  but  because  at  Bonn  he  was  sure 
of  a  majority  in  his  favour,  for  loyal  Catholics,  in  spite  of  his 

1  Others  maintained,  however,  that  some  of  the  canons  known  to  be 
inclined  towards  Lutheranism  had  been  threatened  with  death. 


110  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

safe-conduct,  would  not  go  there.  By  this  stratagem  it  would 
appear  as  if  all  ranks  in  the  diocese  had  consented  to  his 
measures. 

Billick  went  on  to  complain  bitterly  that  the  sentence 
against  the  archbishop  announced  by  the  papal  nuncio,  Verallo, 
as  imminent,  had  not  yet  been  passed.  "  Every  postponement 
of  the  imperial  mandate,"  he  wrote,  "  means  a  weakening  of 
our  cause  and  a  strengthening  of  that  of  our  opponents.  At 
Worms  they  speak  fair,  and  assume  a  supplicating  attitude; 
but  at  Cologne  they  go  about  their  business  boldly.  Paintings 
are  scratched  off  the  walls  of  the  churches,  statues  are  hurled 
from  their  pedestals,  heretical  preachers  are  multiplied  and 
forced  upon  the  Catholics  against  their  will.  Four  days  ago, 
the  archbishop  attacked  the  parish  priest  of  Briihl,  because  he 
still  said  Mass,  and  forbade  him  to  do  so  in  future.  And 
much  more  is  done  in  this  enormous  diocese  which  entirely 
escapes  our  notice."  In  conclusion,  Billick  implored  the 
Dominican  to  do  his  utmost  with  the  Emperor,  the  Cardinal 
of  Augsburg,  the  Apostolic  Nuncio,  and  the  other  Catholic 
authorities  in  order  that  the  mandate  might  be  issued  without 
further  delay,  adding,  "  Cropper,  the  indefatigable  champion 
of  our  cause,  is  ill,  otherwise  he  would  have  sent  a  learned  and 
luminous  disquisition  on  this  subject." 

At  last,  the  Emperor  was  moved  to  abandon  the  passive 
and  procrastinating  attitude  he  had  hitherto  assumed ;  and 
towards  the  close  of  the  Reichstag  he  answered  the  Cologne 
appellants  by  citing  the  archbishop  to  appear  within  thirty 
days,  and  answer  the  charges  of  innovation  brought  against 
him.  In  the  meanwhile  he  was  to  cancel  all  the  novelties  he 
had  introduced  into  the  diocese. 

Charles  V.  on  his  way  to  the  Netherlands  stopped  at 
Cologne,  and  in  a  personal  interview  with  Hermann,  repre- 
sented to  him  the  terrible  consequences  that  would  ensue  if 
he  persisted  in  his  disobedience. 

The  archbishop  demanded  a  short  time  to  consider  and  to 


consult  with  his  advisers.  His  answer,  written  on  ipth  August, 
after  the  Emperor's  departure,  was  to  the  effect  that  he 
could  not  change  his  opinions.  He  was  then  cited  to 
appear  at  Brussels  within  the  space  of  thirty  days.  At  the 
same  time  Paul  III.  sent  him  a  brief,  commanding  him  and 
his  adherents  to  justify  their  conduct  at  Rome  within  sixty 
days. 

Hermann  paid  no  attention  to  either  of  these  citations,  but 
with  renewed  zeal  continued  to  advance  the  Protestant  refor- 
mation. On  the  8th  January  1546,  Verallo  suspended  him,  and 
confiscated  the  revenues  of  the  diocese.  The  archbishop  made 
a  solemn  protest,  but  showed  no  sign  of  yielding,  and  on  the 
i6th  April,  the  Pope  proceeded  to  his  ex-communication,  at  the 
same  time  depriving  him  of  all  his  ecclesiastical  dignities, 
offices  and  benefices. 

By  a  special  brief  of  3rd  July,  Hermann's  coadjutor,  Adolf 
von  Schauenburg,  was  made  administrator  of  the  archdiocese, 
and  Cropper  and  Billick  were  appointed  to  examine  the 
deposed  archbishop  with  regard  to  his  attitude  towards  the 
Catholic  religion.  The  result  was  unsatisfactory,  but  the 
Emperor  could  not  be  induced  to  take  any  immediate  steps 
against  Hermann,  his  whole  attention  being  directed  towards 
crushing  the  Schmalkaldian  League.  It  was  not  till  November 
that  the  archbishop  was  officially  informed  of  his  ex-communi- 
cation, when  he  made  a  further  protest,  declared  the  Pope 
incompetent  to  judge  him,  and  again  appealed  to  a  German 
Council.  The  time  now  seemed  ripe  for  putting  pressure  on 
Charles  V.  to  carry  out  the  Pope's  sentence.  The  imperial 
arms  had  been  victorious  over  the  league,  and  the  Catholics 
of  Cologne  commissioned  Billick  to  proceed  to  the  camp, 
and  to  petition  the  emperor  to  formally  depose  the  arch- 
bishop. 

The  biographers  of  Blessed  Peter  Canisius  for  the  most 
part  claim  him  as  the  hero  of  this  expedition,  which  was  in 
fact  entrusted  to  several  delegates,  of  whom  the  principals  were 


112  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

the  veteran  Carmelite  provincial,  and  Johann  von  Isenburg. 
Canisius  was  deputed  to  go  first  to  Liege,  and  to  beg  that 
its  bishop,  George  of  Austria,  son  of  Maximilian  I.,  and  uncle 
to  the  Emperor,  would  facilitate  their  journey,  the  country 
through  which  they  would  have  to  pass  being  invested  with 
the  enemy's  troops.  During  the  time  which  he  spent  at  Liege, 
Canisius  completely  won  the  heart  of  the  prince-bishop,  who 
ordered  him  to  preach  in  his  cathedral  and  in  his  private 
chapel,  expressing  himself  greatly  edified  with  what  he  had 
heard.  His  visit  being  unavoidably  prolonged,  Canisius  gave 
the  Spiritual  Exercises,  took  part  in  theological  conferences  with 
the  Lutherans,  visited  the  sick  in  the  hospitals,  and  catechised 
the  children.  Crowds  followed  him  wherever  he  went,  and 
there  was  but  one  opinion  of  his  learning,  eloquence,  and 
charity. 

It  is  probable  that  on  his  return  to  Cologne,  having  given  an 
account  of  his  mission,  he  started  with  the  other  delegates  for 
Worms. 

Writing  to  the  coadjutor  Adolf,  on  6th  December,  Billick 
says  that  at  Mainz  they  heard  that  all  the  roads  were  occupied 
by  the  enemy.  In  order  to  avoid  all  appearance  of  an  embassy 
they  left  their  baggage  behind  them  at  Mainz,  and  being 
advised  by  the  vicar-general,  Scholl,  the  Carmelite  separated 
from  his  companions,  and  hastened  on  alone  to  Worms  to 
present  his  letters  to  the  Dean  of  St  Andrew's.  Here  he  lay 
hidden  for  four  days,  in  the  greatest  anxiety  and  doubt  as  to 
his  further  progress.  Neither  he  nor  his  advisers  could  hit  on  a 
safe  mode  of  continuing  the  journey,  as  it  was  known  that 
separate  parties  of  defeated  Schmalkaldians  were  making  their 
retreat  good  by  various  roads  back  to  the  Rhine.  To  add  to  his 
alarm  and  embarrassment  Billick  discovered  that  his  horse  had 
been  rendered  useless  by  a  mysterious  wound,  so  that  he  had 
reason  to  think  he  had  been  betrayed.  Just  then,  however,  he 
received  information  that  the  imperialists  were  in  hot  pursuit  of 
the  Schmalkaldians,  and  having  bought  another  horse  from  a 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       113 

Jew,  he  set  out  for  Speyer.  At  Speyer  he  fell  in  with  a  noble- 
man belonging  to  the  imperial  army  on  his  way  back  to  the 
camp,  and  Billick  joined  him,  without  however  revealing  his 
name  or  his  mission,  so  necessary  was  it  to  regard  every 
stranger  as  a  possible  enemy. 

At  last  the  road  to  the  Emperor  was  open,  and  the 
delegates,  who  all  arrived  simultaneously  at  Krailsheim  on 
1 5th  December,  were  received  by  Cardinal  Granvelle.  The 
object  of  their  embassy  was  then  speedily  attained.  Charles 
V.  issued  a  mandate,  ordering  the  Landtag  to  assemble  at 
Cologne  on  the  24th  January  following  ;  and  at  the  date 
fixed  two  imperial  commissioners  appeared  to  conduct  the 
proceedings. 

On  the  same  day  the  coadjutor  Adolf  was  inducted  as 
archbishop,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  a  large  number  of  the 
representatives  of  the  Landtag,  who,  however,  gave  in  their 
adhesion  by  the  end  of  the  month.  Hermann  still  offered  a 
futile  resistance,  but  on  28th  February  1547  was  at  last  forced 
from  a  position  that  had  become  untenable.  He  died  on 
the  1 5th  August  1552. 

During  these  proceedings  Peter  Canisius  had  atttracted  the 
attention  of  Cardinal  Otto  Truchsess,  who  desired  to  have  him 
as  his  second  theologian  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  Father  Le  Jay 
having  already  been  sent  there  as  first  theologian  to  that  prelate. 
The  cardinal,  in  a  letter  to  St  Ignatius,  laid  stress  on  the 
circumstance  of  Peter's  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  state  of 
religion  in  Germany,  and  on  his  being  able  therefore  to  suggest 
to  the  Council  the  best  means  of  meeting  the  prevalent  evils. 
These  reasons  had  great  weight  with  St  Ignatius,  and  scarcely 
had  the  young  Jesuit  returned  to  Cologne,  when  he  received 
orders  to  set  out  for  Trent.  Great  was  the  lamentation  among 
the  burghers  of  Cologne.  All  whom  he  met  in  the  streets 
greeted  him  with  tears  and  supplications  not  to  depart  out  of 
their  midst  His  leaving,  they  declared,  would  mean  triumph 
to  the  enemies  of  the  Church.  The  university  conferred  on  him 

H 


114  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

unanimously  the  title  of  doctor  of  divinity  as  a  proof  of  their 
gratitude,  esteem,  and  regret  at  his  loss.  The  clergy  and 
senate  presented  him  with  two  precious  relics — the  heads  of  two 
of  the  martyred  companions  of  St  Ursula. 

At  Trent  Canisius  found  four  of  his  religious  brethren,  and 
joined  them  at  their  lodgings  in  the  hospital.  Here  the  five 
Jesuits  followed  the  special  rule  of  life  which  St  Ignatius  had  sent 
to  them.  "  Three  things  I  wish  you  to  bear  in  mind,"  he  wrote : 
"(i)  at  the  sessions  of  the  Council  the  greatest  glory  of  God, 
and  the  general  good  of  the  Church  ;  (2)  outside  the  Council 
your  fundamental  principle  to  labour  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  a 
matter  that  lies  especially  near  my  heart  in  this  your  journey  ; 
(3)  when  at  home  not  to  neglect  yourselves."  He  recommended 
them  to  behave  as  prudently  as  possible  at  the  Council,  not  to 
speak  hastily,  and  to  be  ever  on  the  side  of  peace.  Every 
evening  they  were  to  confer  with  each  other  on  the  day's  pro- 
ceedings, and  to  make  resolutions  for  the  morrow.  "  Moreover," 
he  continued,  "  you  will  allow  no  opportunity  to  escape  you  of 
acquiring  merit  in  the  service  of  your  neighbour.  You  must 
always  be  on  the  watch  to  hear  confessions,  to  preach  to  the 
people,  to  instruct  the  little  ones,  to  visit  the  sick."  In  their 
sermons  they  were  to  avoid  controverted  dogmas,  and  to  lay 
stress  on  all  that  appertained  to  the  reform  of  morals,  and 
obedience  to  the  Church. 

The  meetings  of  the  Council  being  adjourned  till  1550, 
Canisius  was  called  to  Rome,  where  he  remained  for  five 
months,  under  the  personal  guidance  of  St  Ignatius  himself, 
who  submitted  him  to  the  most  humiliating  trials  in  order  to 
prove  his  virtue.  He  sent  him  to  beg  and  to  preach  in  the 
most  frequented  parts  of  the  city,  and  to  nurse  the  sick  in  the 
hospitals,  where  he  was  day  and  night  at  the  beck  and  call  of 
exacting  officials,  who  set  him  to  perform  the  most  loathsome 
tasks,  and  often  curtailed  his  sleep  and  food.  St  Ignatius 
would  then  cause  inquiries  to  be  made  at  the  hospitals  concern- 
ing the  behaviour  of  his  novice  under  this  kind  of  treatment. 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       115 

In  the  spring  of  1548,  Canisius  was  sent  with  eleven  com- 
panions to  Messina,  where  the  Viceroy,  Don  Juan  de  Vega,  had 
founded  a  college.  On  the  eve  of  their  departure  St  Ignatius 
put  to  them  four  questions  in  writing.  Canisius  answered  the 
questions  thus  : — 

1.  "  I  am  ready,  with  the  help  of  God's  grace,  to  remain  here 
or  to  go  to  Sicily,  to  India,  or  wherever  it  may  be  that  obedience 
requires  me. 

2.  "  If  I  am  sent  to  Sicily  I  affirm  that  I  will  accept  with 
joy  whatever  office  is  conferred  on  me,  even  should  it  be  that  of 
porter,  cook,  or  gardener. 

3.  "  I  am  ready  to  learn  or  to  teach  in  any  department  of 
science,  although  hitherto   I   may   have   been   quite   unskilled 
in  it. 

4.  "  I    will  regard   as   best   for    me  whatever  my  superiors 
may  decide  to  do  with  me,  whether  they  entrust  me  with  any 
office  or  with  none.     I  promise  this  day,  the  5th  February,  for 
my  whole  life  never  to  demand  anything  for  myself  concerning 
my  lodging,  office  or  any  other  similar  thing,  but  once  for  all  I 
leave  the  guidance  of  my  soul,  and  every  care  for  my  body  in 
the  complete  submission  of  my  judgment  and  will,  to  my  father 
in   God,   the    Rev.    Father   General,    1548.     Peter   Canisius  of 
Nymwegen." 

Hereupon  St  Ignatius  appointed  him  professor  of  rhetoric  at 
Messina,  and  Canisius  wrote  to  his  friends  at  Cologne  :  "  As  I 
am  useless  for  any  spiritual  office  I  am  entrusted  with  the  insipid 
department  of  belles  lettres.  I  teach  rhetoric  for  which  I  have 
little  aptitude,  but  I  take  pains  to  form  these  good  youths,  and 
am  always  ready,  with  God's  help,  to  do  all  that  obedience 
requires  of  me." 

After  a  fruitful  year,  during  which  he  had  learned  Italian, 
and  having  preached  in  that  language,  had  obtained  some 
wonderful  conversions  from  sin,  he  was  recalled  to  Rome,  where 


116  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

he  laid  his  four  solemn  vows1  in  the  hands  of  St  Ignatius. 
Immediately  afterwards  he  was  told  to  prepare  for  his 
apostolate  in  Germany. 

William  IV.,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  surnamed  the  valiant,  on 
account  of  his  faithful  adherence  to  the  Catholic  Church,  at  a 
time  when  so  many  of  the  reigning  princes  of  Germany  fell 
away,  saw,  with  distress  and  alarm,  the  daily  increasing  dangers 
to  which  his  beloved  fatherland  was  a  prey.  Even  in  the 
college  which  he  had  himself  founded  at  Ingolstadt,  heresies 
were  steadily  gaining  the  upper  hand,  and  he  besought  St 
Ignatius  to  send  him  learned  men,  imbued  with  the  apostolic 
spirit,  to  stay  the  progress  of  error. 

The  Church  was  not  wanting  at  this  time  in  men  of  learning 
and  piety.  Theologians,  such  as  Cardinal  Cajetan,  Cropper  of 
Cologne,  Eck  of  Ingolstadt,  Cochlaeus,  and  others,  had  a 
European  reputation.  The  first  members  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  were  all  saints  and  scholars.  Lainez,  Salmeron,  Lefevre, 
Faber,  Le  Jay,  Bobadilla,  were  formed  for  the  exigencies  of  the 
time ;  but  for  the  special  work  required  of  him,  Canisius 
effaces  them  all,  or  rather,  gathers  up  in  his  own  character 
each  of  the  great  qualities  which  they  possessed.  His 
strength,  moreover,  was  equal  to  his  enormous  task.  West- 
phalia, Bavaria,  Saxony,  Bohemia,  Austria,  Franconia,  Suabia, 
Moravia,  Tirol,  Switzerland,  from  the  falls  of  the  Rhine  to  its 
source  in  the  Alps,  both  banks  of  the  Danube,  from  Freiburg- 
im-Breisgau  to  Pressburg,  the  banks  of  the  Main  and  of  the 
Vistula — all  this  was  the  scene  of  his  labours  during  a  period  of 
fifty-four  years  ;  and  within  these  limits,  it  is  an  incontrovertible 
fact  that  there  is  no  city  or  district  still  remaining  Catholic  but 
owes  its  faith  to  him. 

St  Ignatius  answered  the  demand  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria 
by  sending  Fathers  Le  Jay,  Salmeron,  and  Peter  Canisius,  the 

1  The  first  three  of  the  solemn  vows  taken  by  the  Jesuits  are  those  of 
poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience.  The  fourth  vow  is  the  promise  to  go 
wherever  the  Pope  may  send  them. 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY      117 

three  most  distinguished  men  of  his  Society.  On  the  way  to 
Germany  they  stopped  at  Bologna,  in  order  that  the  two  first 
might  receive  the  degree  of  doctor,  Canisius,  as  we  know,  being 
already  a  graduate  of  Cologne.  The  German  heretics  prided 
themselves  so  much  on  the  few  individuals  in  their  ranks  who 
had  attained  to  it,  that  it  was  important  to  provide  them  with 
opponents  whom  they  might  meet  in  controversy  on  equal 
grounds.  At  Munich  Duke  William  welcomed  them,  assuring 
them  that  nothing  lay  nearer  to  his  heart  than  the  maintenance 
of  the  Catholic  religion  in  his  states,  but  that  heresy  had  already 
taken  possession  of  many  of  his  towns  and  villages,  and  had 
even  ventured  to  lift  its  head  in  the  University  of  Ingol- 
stadt.  The  three  missionaries  proceeded  at  once  to  that 
place,  where  they  were  received  by  the  principal  dignitaries  of 
the  University. 

A  few  days  later  they  began  their  lectures  :  Salmeron,  with  a 
commentary  on  the  Epistle  of  St  Paul  to  the  Romans  ;  Canisius, 
with  a  dissertation  on  the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard  ;  Le  Jay, 
with  an  exposition  of  the  Psalms.  From  the  beginning  their 
success  was  assured,  but  in  a  few  months  the  whole  work 
devolved  on  Canisius,  Le  Jay  being  sent  to  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg,  Salmeron  going  to  support  Lainez,  at  the  re-opened 
Council  of  Trent,  as  the  Pope's  theologian. 

So  great  was  the  confidence  which  Canisius  inspired,  that 
already,  in  1550,  the  University,  by  unanimous  consent,  elected 
him  its  rector.  Humility  prompted  him  to  refuse  the  office,  but 
St  Ignatius  bade  him  accept  it.  The  need  for  drastic  changes 
in  various  departments  was  only  too  apparent ;  Canisius  not 
only  secured  the  good  he  aimed  at,  but  by  his  tact  escaped  the 
odium  which  so  frequently  attaches  to  the  crusader  against 
time-honoured  abuses.  As  he  accepted  none  of  the  emoluments 
belonging  to  his  offices,  he  was  the  more  free  to  insist  on  the 
perfect  probity  with  which  the  administration  of  the  funds  of  all 
offices  should  be  conducted. 

He  next  took  away  from  the  students  all  heretical  books, 


118  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  obtained  from  Duke  William  a  mandate,  forbidding  the 
booksellers  to  sell  such.  He  abolished  gambling,  to  which  the 
students  had  been  much  addicted.  He  settled  disputes  between 
them  and  their  professors,  and  the  ancient  rules  and  regulations 
concerning  studies  ceased  to  be  a  dead  letter.  His  words 
animated  his  hearers  with  a  love  of  work,  creating  a  stimulus 
and  a  desire  to  excel.  He  re-established  the  unjustly  dis- 
credited syllogistic  form  of  argument,  and  reverted  to  the 
learning  of  the  Schools  in  its  primitive  purity,  deprived  of  the 
excrescences  with  which  would-be  scholars  had  disfigured  it 
Lastly,  he  succeeded  in  freeing  the  University  from  every 
reproach  of  immorality  and  license,  and  this  was,  perhaps, 
his  most  signal  victory  at  Ingolstadt.  The  annals  of  the 
University  abundantly  testify  to  the  greatness  of  the  work 
accomplished. 

At  the  end  of  his  six  months'  rectorship,  Canisius  gave  an 
account  of  his  administration,  and  declined  the  chancellorship 
then  offered  to  him.  Ingolstadt,  in  that  short  space  of  time, 
had  been  transformed,  and  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  benefits 
conferred  on  it,  the  Duke  resolved  to  found  a  college  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  sons  of  St  Ignatius. 

Next  to  Bavaria,  Austria  was  to  share  in  the  blessings  which 
the  very  presence  of  Canisius  seemed  to  draw  down  from  Heaven, 
but  the  whole  German-speaking  world  clamoured  for  his 
possession.  The  Bishop  of  Saxony  entreated  him  to  come 
and  change  the  deplorable  state  of  his  diocese.  Duke  Albert, 
son  and  successor  of  William  IV.,  stoutly  maintained  that  he 
was  needed  at  Ingolstadt,  and  that  he  could  not  suffer  him  to 
leave  it ;  while  St  Ignatius  was  besieged  with  demands  for  the 
services  of  his  most  learned  disciple.  The  Prince-Bishop  of 
Freising  and  the  Bishop  of  Eichstadt  each  claimed  him  as  his 
theologian  at  the  Council  of  Trent.  Ferdinand,  King  of  the 
Romans,  urged  that  "the  Light  of  Germany"  should  be 
instantly  sent  to  the  capital  of  the  Austrian  dominions,  then 
plunged  in  the  darkness  of  heresy.  Pope  Julius  III.  solved  the 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY      119 

difficulty  by  desiring  that  he  should  proceed  at  once  to  Vienna, 
and  St  Ignatius  softened  the  blow  to  Duke  Albert  in  these 
words :  "  The  formal  demand  of  his  Holiness  obliges  me  to 
send  Father  Canisius  to  Vienna,  but  without  taking  him 
absolutely  from  your  Highness ;  I  am  merely  lending  him  to 
the  King  of  the  Romans  for  a  time,  after  which  he  shall  return 
to  Ingolstadt." 

The  capital  of  Austria  had  fallen  a  complete  prey  to  heresy. 
For  twenty  years  not  a  single  priest  had  been  ordained  there  ; 
religious  vocations  were  no  longer  heard  of.  Scarcely  the 
twentieth  part  of  the  population  had  remained  Catholic.  Three 
hundred  country  parishes  near  the  city  were  entirely  without 
priests.  The  University,  instead  of  providing  a  remedy, 
aggravated  the  existing  evils  by  a  teaching  that  was  more 
or  less  heterodox.  Society,  moreover,  was  rotten  to  the 
core,  and  needed  to  be  entirely  reconstructed.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  things  when,  at  the  call  of  the  feeble  but  devout 
Ferdinand  I.,  Blessed  Peter  Canisius  arrived  at  Vienna  in 
March  1552.  Thirteen  of  his  religious  brethren  had  preceded 
him  by  nearly  a  year,  and  had  opened  a  college  which  already 
promised  well. 

Canisius  began  by  preaching  sermons  at  court,  and  to  the 
people,  by  catechising  children,  and  by  seizing  every  possible 
opportunity  of  doing  good.  Then  the  plague  broke  out,  and 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  stricken.  The  Pope  proclaimed 
a  jubilee,  and  Canisius  profited  by  the  occasion  to  vindicate 
the  honour  of  indulgences.  His  method  everywhere  seems 
to  have  been  to  do  the  next,  the  obvious  thing,  whatever  it 
might  be,  and  to  throw  himself  heart  and  soul  into  it.  Not 
content  with  his  work  in  the  city,  he  evangelised  the  country 
places.  The  poorest  hamlets  attracted  him  most,  and  as  he 
went  on  his  way,  he  instructed,  consoled,  heard  the  confes- 
sions of  a  life-time,  gave  the  sacraments  to  the  living  and 
the  dying,  and  brought  back  many  hundreds  of  lost  sheep  to 
the  fold.  He  continued  to  work  thus  without  a  break  during 


120  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

the  winter  months,  among  people  who  were  Christian  but  in 
name,  intemperance,  ignorance,  and  long  neglect,  having 
brutalised  them  almost  beyond  human  reach.  But  where  he 
passed,  every  village  changed  its  aspect ;  conversions  little 
short  of  miraculous  marked  his  progress  everywhere.  Words 
that  from  the  mouth  of  another  might  have  returned  unto 
him  void,  uttered  by  Canisius  carried  compunction  into  the 
hardest  hearts.  It  was  his  sanctity,  his  entire  abnegation  of 
self  and  whole-hearted  dependence  on  the  Divine  Will,  far 
more  than  his  learning,  vigour,  or  energy  that  gave  his  words 
wings,  and  worked  wonders  among  this  forsaken  and 
degraded  country  folk  ;  and  his  charity  was  such  that  he 
would  have  been  well  content  to  have  laboured  among  them 
for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

But  meanwhile  Vienna  was  suffering  from  his  absence, 
and  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  clamoured  for  his  return. 
The  episcopal  see  having  become  vacant,  the  king  besought 
the  Pope  and  St  Ignatius  that  it  might  be  conferred  on 
Father  Canisius.  But  the  utmost  he  could  obtain  after  long 
importunity  was  that  Canisius  should  administer  the  affairs 
of  the  diocese  for  one  year,  pending  the  election  of  a  bishop, 
with  the  proviso  that  he  should  not  touch  a  single  farthing  of 
the  rich  revenues  belonging  to  the  see,  which  he  was  to 
govern  as  a  simple  religious. 

The  arrangement  was  one  admirably  adapted  to  the 
restoration  of  order  in  the  existing  state  of  chaos,  while 
no  sacrifice  of  its  discipline  was  forced  on  the  Society 
by  the  promotion  of  one  of  its  members  to  rank  and 
dignity. 

Canisius  was  afterwards  made  Dean  of  the  University,  in 
the  hope  that  he  would  do  for  it  what  he  had  already  done 
for  Ingolstadt,  and  he  set  about  the  work  in  the  same 
masterly  fashion  that  distinguished  all  his  schemes  of  reform. 
His  first  act  was  to  obtain  a  royal  decree,  limiting  the 
admission  of  professors  to  those  who  had  submitted  them- 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY      121 

selves  to  a  rigorous  examination  in  religious  doctrine,  and 
had  given  irrefragable  proofs  of  orthodoxy.  The  same  con- 
ditions were  in  future  to  be  exacted  of  all  who  presented 
themselves  for  degrees.  The  university  teemed  with  Lutheran 
literature ;  it  was  swept  away  by  the  same  inexorable  root- 
and-branch  measures  that  had  been  so  successfully  employed 
at  Ingolstadt. 

The  next  care  of  the  reformer  was  to  petition  the  king 
for  a  seminary  wherein  the  ranks  of  the  clergy,  thinned 
almost  to  extinction,  might  be  reinforced  by  men  carefully 
trained  to  a  due  appreciation  of  their  high  calling.  The 
result  was  the  foundation  of  the  seminary  of  priests  of  noble 
family,  recruited  mainly  from  the  college  which  the  Jesuits 
had  opened  at  Vienna,  and  to  which  had  flocked  students 
from  all  the  great  families  of  Hungary,  Bohemia,  Poland, 
etc.  In  conjunction  with  this  seminary,  St  Ignatius,  about 
the  same  time,  founded  the  celebrated  German  College 
in  Rome,  for  the  regeneration  of  Germany  by  means  of 
a  clergy  that  should  be  as  learned  as  it  was  morally 
irreproachable. 

In  the  midst  of  his  multifarious  occupations,  Canisius 
continued  his  sermons  at  court,  in  the  Cathedral,  and  in  the 
principal  churches  of  Vienna.  Lutherans  frequented  them 
largely,  and  some,  touched  by  the  power  of  his  doctrine  and 
eloquence,  asked  him  for  conferences,  which  he  gladly  accorded 
them.  Among  these  were  two  preachers  of  some  celebrity, 
pillars  of  Protestantism,  who  defied  him  to  answer  their 
arguments  in  a  public  disputation.  He  accepted  the  challenge, 
and  the  day,  place,  and  hour  were  fixed.  A  great  concourse 
of  people,  composed  largely  of  the  new  sectaries,  were 
assembled,  prepared  to  swell  the  expected  triumph  of  their 
champions.  The  two  heretical  doctors  held  their  dissertations, 
one  after  the  other,  and  sat  down  amid  the  applause  of  their 
sympathisers.  Then  Canisius  stood  up  with  religious  modesty 
and  humility,  his  bearing  expressive  of  the  calmness  and 


122  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AKD  CLOISTER 

benevolence  of  one  who  has  the  whole  Catholic  Church,  past 
and  present,  on  his  side.  His  prodigious  memory  and 
profound  knowledge  enabled  him  to  refute  easily  every  charge 
brought  by  his  adversaries,  whom  he  completely  crushed  with 
the  overwhelming  consistency  of  his  logic.  They  both  ac- 
knowledged themselves  defeated ;  one  returned  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  a  few  months  later  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  of  which  he  remained  an  edifying  member  till  his 
death ;  the  other  became  a  more  determined  advocate  of 
heresy  than  before,  and  swore  to  avenge  his  defeat  by  a 
persistent  persecution  of  the  Jesuits. 

Nor  were  enemies  wanting  on  any  side ;  the  more  converts 
the  Jesuits  made,  the  greater  was  the  hatred  they  inspired. 
Calumnies  were  sown  broadcast,  and  the  life  of  Father 
Canisius  was  in  constant  danger.  Ferdinand,  warned  of  a 
plot  to  murder  the  holy  man,  obliged  him,  greatly  to  his 
discomfiture,  to  accept  a  bodyguard  whenever  he  went  out. 
But  the  work  of  reform  and  conversion  went  on  steadily,  and 
from  all  parts  of  Germany,  bishops,  princes,  and  governors 
sought  to  obtain  the  presence  of  the  illustrious  apostle.  "  I 
am  ready,"  he  wrote  in  this  regard  to  St  Ignatius,  "to  go 
wherever  obedience  calls  me,  and  to  work  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls  however  abandoned  they  may  be,  whether  in 
Poland,  Lithuania,  Russia,  Tartary,  or  China,  wherever  I  am 
sent" 

He  was  sent  to  Prague,  perhaps  the  most  God-forsaken 
spot  in  the  whole  empire.  Every  imaginable  sect  had 
accumulated  in  Bohemia  during  the  preceding  twenty  years. 
Scarcely  a  vestige  of  Catholicism  remained,  and  Hussites, 
Wicklifites,  Vaudois,  Lutherans,  Zwinglians,  and  various  other 
offshoots  of  the  principal  sects,  were  busy  relegating  each 
other  in  eloquent  terms  to  eternal  damnation,  when  the 
arrival  of  Catholic  missionaries  gave  the  signal  for  a  coalition 
against  the  common  enemy  of  them  all  At  Prague  itself, 
where  Canisius  was  charged  to  found  a  college  with  the 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       123 

injunction  not  to  leave  Bohemia  until  it  should  be  solidly 
established  and  in  a  flourishing  condition,  the  Hussites  out- 
numbered the  others.  Scarcely  had  he  arrived  and  set  to 
work,  when  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  reminding  St  Ignatius 
that  Canisius  had  only  been  lent  to  Austria,  claimed  him, 
at  least  temporarily,  for  the  foundation  of  the  college  which 
the  Society  was  to  establish  at  Ingolstadt.  The  claim  was 
admitted  to  be  just,  and  accordingly  the  affairs  of  Prague 
could  only  be  proceeded  with  four  months  later,  when 
Canisius  returned  from  Germany,  having  been  made  pro- 
vincial. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  Lent  1555,  and  on  the  2ist  April 
twelve  priests  sent  to  him  from  Rome  by  St  Ignatius, 
arrived  to  second  him  in  his  perilous  undertaking.  The  first 
time  the  Jesuits  appeared  in  the  streets  they  were  saluted 
with  handfuls  of  mud  cast  at  them  by  the  city  urchins,  who 
had  been  bribed  to  insult  them.  The  cry  "  Dogs  of  Jesuits  "  (a 
play  upon  the  word  Canisius)  followed  them  wherever  they 
went.  Father  Peter  was  himself  assailed  with  a  large  stone 
hurled  through  the  window  of  the  church  as  he  stood  at 
the  altar  saying  Mass.  A  plot  was  formed  to  throw  the 
whole  community  one  by  one  into  the  Moldau,  as  they 
passed  over  the  bridge  that  connected  the  old  and  the  new 
town  ;  and  ruffians,  who  had  received  a  part  of  their  reward 
in  advance,  were  stationed  in  the  middle  of  the  bridge  to 
waylay  them.  But  a  timely  edict  issued  by  the  Archduke  of 
Bohemia  threatened  with  the  most  severe  penalties  whoever 
should  raise  a  hand  against  any  member  of  the  Society,  or 
even  treat  any  one  of  them  disrespectfully.  He  went 
still  further,  and  sent  a  detachment  of  guards  to  the 
college  daily,  with  orders  to  accompany  each  of  the  priests 
wherever  he  went,  and  in  sufficient  numbers  to  prevent  any 
attack. 

Added  to  the  open  enmity  and  fierce  hatred  which  they 
inspired,  the  Jesuits  had  to  encounter  the  jealousy  of  the 


124  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

University  professors,  who  would  have  been  willing  enough 
that  they  should  preach,  but  who,  on  the  opening  of  their 
college,  did  all  they  could  to  hamper  them  and  prejudice 
people  against  them. 

The  reputation  of  the  Society  for  teaching  was  great  all 
over  Germany.  Wherever  a  college  was  established  by  them, 
it  immediately  attracted  students  from  all  parts,  and  it  was 
perhaps  natural  that  other  educational  institutions  should  fear 
for  their  own  existence.  But  the  pettiness  and  meanness 
with  which  this  fear  was  expressed  at  Prague  resulted  for 
the  Jesuits  in  a  penury  so  abject,  that  for  many  months  they 
had  nothing  to  eat  but  bread  and  cheese,  and  nothing  to 
drink  but  water  from  their  own  well.  For  several  days 
they  were  even  prevented  from  going  out  for  want  of  suitable 
garments.  Nevertheless,  however  much  they  might  have  to 
suffer  in  any  one  place,  struggling  through  a  painful 
existence  to  the  end  in  view,  the  work  of  reform  went  steadily 
forward. 

About  this  time,  the  cathedral  at  Regensburg  was  in  need 
of  a  preacher  ;  the  Diet  was  about  to  assemble  in  that  city, 
all  the  princes  and  electors  of  the  empire  were  to  take  part 
in  it,  and  the  new  sectaries  were  expected  in  great  numbers, 
in  order  to  wrench,  if  it  might  be,  such  concessions  from 
the  authorities  as  they  had  not  yet  been  able  to  obtain. 
The  chapter  therefore  appealed  to  Father  Canisius,  and 
besought  him  to  throw  himself  into  this  important  breach. 
Realising  all  that  was  at  stake,  he  started  at  once  for 
Regensburg. 

His  first  appearance  in  the  cathedral  pulpit  was  a  splendid 
testimony  to  the  opinion  in  which  he  was  held.  The  vast 
building  was  filled  with  a  brilliant  throng,  on  the  fringe  of 
which  the  people  hung  in  dense  crowds  overflowing  into  the 
streets.  In  a  letter  to  Father  Lainez  (who  had  succeeded 
St  Ignatius  as  General  of  the  Society)  in  September  1556, 
Canisius  describes  his  efforts  as  successful  in  supporting  and 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       125 

strengthening  the  persecuted  Catholics,  but  he  goes  on  to 
say  that  the  Lutheran  representatives  at  the  Diet  let  loose 
a  string  of  calumnies  against  him,  and  did  all  they  could  to 
poison  the  minds  of  the  weak  and  simple.  But  for  the 
States  of  the  Empire  they  would  have  cast  him  out  of  the 
city  as  one  so  dangerous  to  the  Protestant  cause  that  they 
declared  it  would  be  wrecked  altogether  if  Canisius  continued 
to  preach  there. 

However,  continue  he  did  during  the  whole  of  the  sessions, 
save  for  a  short  interval  of  absence.  In  this  interval  he 
visited  Innsbruck,  in  which  town  a  college  of  the  Society  was 
nearing  completion ;  and  Augsburg,  whose  bishop,  his  old 
friend  the  celebrated  Otto  Truchsess,  desired  to  consult  him 
on  the  affairs  of  his  diocese.  There,  overwhelmed  with  his 
almost  superhuman  labours,  Canisius  fell  ill.  He  desired  to 
be  taken  to  the  college  at  Ingolstadt,  and  Cardinal 
Truchsess  accompanied  him  thither,  while  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria  sent  him  his  physicians.  Thanks  to  their  skill  and 
to  the  enforced  rest  of  his  mental  and  physical  powers,  he 
soon  recovered,  and  was  able  on  the  ist  December  to  return  to 
his  post  at  Regensburg.  On  all  the  Sundays  of  Advent  he 
preached  at  the  cathedral,  but  as  it  could  not  contain  the 
vast  concourse  of  people  who  crowded  to  hear  him,  he  was 
obliged  to  preach  three  times  in  the  week  also.  From  the 
pulpit  he  went  to  the  confessional,  and  when  he  returned  to 
his  lodging  he  was  besieged  by  those  who  came  to  seek  his 
advice — princes,  concerning  the  interests  of  religion  in  their 
dominions,  prelates,  in  regard  to  the  reform  of  their  dioceses, 
or  to  their  own  spiritual  needs.  The  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  often  sent  for  him  to  confer  with 
him,  and  all  admired  the  humility,  simplicity,  and  patience 
with  which  he  listened,  no  less  than  the  frankness  and 
freedom  from  human  respect  with  which  he  proffered  his 
advice.  But  time  was  wanting  for  all  the  demands  made 
upon  him ;  and  that  all  might  be  satisfied  he  drew  up  for 


126  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

the  use  of  bishops  a  short  treatise  on  the  means  of 
reforming  the  clergy,  and  of  introducing  good  morals  among 
their  flocks. 

The  Diet  of  Regensburg  ended  in  nothing  but  resolutions 
to  continue  the  controversy  at  Worms,  and  fearing  the 
objections  of  Canisius,  who  was  known  to  feel  great  repug- 
nance towards  these  public  conferences  with  heretics  which 
never  came  to  any  practical  conclusion,  Ferdinand  sought 
to  anticipate  his  refusal  by  obtaining  a  promise  from 
Father  Lainez  that  so  able  a  defender  of  Catholic  doctrine 
should  also  be  present 

Canisius  had  already  written  to  the  general  thus: — 

"  Knowing  as  I  do  my  poverty  of  intellect,  my  great  want  of 
aptitude,  and  my  incapacity,  I  confess  that  I  should  like  to  run 
away  from  this  place,  and  would  rather  go  and  beg  in  India 
than  involve  myself  in  those  dangerous  disputes,  out  of  which 
nothing  can  come  but  perpetual  disgrace  to  religion,  and  great 
harm  to  the  rights  of  the  Church.  But  the  Lord  God  will  make 
known  to  me  His  will  by  His  servant  my  Superior,  and  when 
I  know  it  I  shall  have  no  further  fear,  but  shall  appear  with 
boldness  in  the  enemy's  camp ;  for  all  my  confidence  and 
all  my  strength  are  in  obedience.  I  can  be  nothing  else  but  a 
beast  of  burden  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my 
life." 

Father  Lainez  shared  to  the  full  the  opinion  of  Canisius  as 
to  the  uselessness  of  these  conferences,  which  were  exacted  by 
the  Lutherans  in  the  hope  of  wresting  something  to  their  own 
temporal  advantage,  and  the  Pope  differed  from  neither  in  his 
estimation  of  the  small  amount  of  good  to  be  hoped  from  them. 
But  as  the  Emperor  was  not  to  be  restrained  from  granting 
concessions  which  all  Catholics  agreed  were  futile,  it  was 
extremely  important  that  the  interests  of  religion  and 
the  rights  of  the  Holy  See  should  be  ably  defended ;  and 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       127 

Father  Lainez  therefore  insisted  that  Canisius  should  not  only 
remain  at  the  Diet  of  Regensburg  to  the  bitter  end,  but  that 
he  should  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  reopen  the  campaign 
at  Worms. 

In  the  interval  Canisius  went  to  Rome  to  pay  his  respects 
to  the  new  General,  and  on  his  return  to  Germany  visited 
Munich.  The  capital  of  Bavaria  was  also  a  hot-bed  of  heresy, 
and  after  a  brief  sojourn  there  he  wrote  to  Father  Lainez, 
entreating  that  he  would  send  some  Fathers  capable  of  attract- 
ing people  by  their  sermons  and  of  edifying  them  by  the  holiness 
of  their  lives.  He  then  went  to  Ingolstadt,  and  was  greatly 
consoled  by  the  results  that  had  been  obtained  by  the  newly- 
founded  college.  Heresy  no  longer  ventured  to  raise  its  head 
where  formerly  it  had  flaunted  its  colours  unabashed,  and  in 
every  respect  the  university  was  worthy  of  the  care  that  had 
been  bestowed  upon  it.  The  place  was  naturally  dear  to  his 
heart,  as  the  magnificent  first-fruits  of  his  labours  for  Germany, 
but  tearing  himself  reluctantly  from  the  piety  and  peace  which 
he  had  so  successfully  planted  there,  he  proceeded  to  confront 
the  enemy  at  Worms. 

The  greater  number  of  the  Lutheran  disputants  had  already 
arrived,  but  of  the  six  Catholic  theologians  deputed  to  enter  the 
lists  against  them,  the  most  celebrated,  Johann  Gropper,  Arch- 
deacon of  Cologne,  was  conspicuous  by  his  absence.  Canisius 
wrote  to  entreat  him  to  come,  but  Gropper  was  so  thoroughly 
convinced  of  the  uselessness  of  the  disputations,  that  he  per- 
sistently refused  to  take  part  in  them.  The  organisation  of  the 
whole  matter  therefore  devolved  on  Canisius,  who  prepared  the 
plan  of  defence,  and  appointed  to  each  Catholic  theologian  the 
subject  of  which  he  was  to  treat.  Besides  this,  he  continued  to 
preach,  to  hear  confessions  and  to  take  counsel  with  his  col- 
leagues daily.  At  night  he  allowed  himself  but  a  brief  interval 
of  sleep,  the  rest  of  the  time  being  spent  in  prayer  and 
study. 

He  had   stipulated  before  the  opening  of  the  conferences 


128  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

that  none  but  those  Protestants  who  belonged  to  the  Confession 
of  Augsburg,  and  who  were  the  only  regular,  and  to  some  extent, 
disciplined  body  among  them  should  take  part  in  the  disputa- 
tions. This  condition  had  been  accepted,  but  from  the  very 
beginning,  Anabaptists,  Sacramentarians,  and  heretics  of  every 
imaginable  sect  appeared,  and  claimed  the  right  of  speech. 
Those  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  were  furious,  and  refused  to 
make  common  cause  with  the  new  arrivals.  Recriminations, 
invectives,  and  threats  were  hurled  about  the  Protestant  camp 
till  a  formidable  tumult  ensued.  The  Augsburg  Lutherans  at 
last  succeeded  in  turning  out  the  other  sects,  but  ashamed  of  the 
spectacle  they  had  presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  Catholics  who 
were  all  united,  they  left  Worms  secretly,  and  contented 
themselves  with  attacking  each  other  in  the  usual  vituperative 
terms. 

"  It  was,"  wrote  Canisius,  "  as  if  the  giants  of  old  were 
seeking  to  rebuild  the  Tower  of  Babel.  God  visited  them  with 
the  same  spirit  of  confusion  which  prevented  their  understand- 
ing one  another,  so  that  Melancthon  was  punished  by  the  work 
of  his  own  hands,  like  those  who  are  devoured  by  the  wild  beasts 
which  they  have  themselves  bred  up  with  great  pains  and 
difficulty." 

Cologne,  Strassburg,  and  his  own  native  Nymwegen  next 
came  in  for  a  share  in  the  apostles'  labours.  The  Bishop 
of  Trent  begged  him  to  come  and  found  a  college  in  his 
diocese ;  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  called  upon  him  to  organise 
the  one  he  had  already  set  on  foot  at  Munich,  and  to 
establish  another  at  Landshut  But  Straubing,  by  reason 
of  its  extreme  need,  detained  him  longer  than  any  of  these 
places. 

Charles  V.  had  himself  been  mainly  responsible  for  the  worst 
of  the  difficulties  and  complications  that  existed  at  Straubing, 
on  account  of  his  famous  interim,  which  granted  to  all,  on  his 
own  personal  authority,  permission  to  communicate  under  both 
kinds,  pending  the  decision  of  the  Council  of  Trent  on  this 


THE  CATHOLIC  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY       129 

point.  Straubing  had  availed  i  itself  without  exception  of  the 
permission,  and  even  after  the  decision  of  the  Council  persisted 
in  retaining  the  custom.  A  few  priests  had  attempted  resist- 
ance, but  numberless  apostasies  and  half  an  insurrection  had 
followed  on  their  action,  and  now  the  position  had  come  to  be 
regarded  as  impregnable. 

Canisius  made  no  attempt  to  storm  the  fortress ;  he  arrived, 
and  was  gentleness  itself.  He  had  scarcely  passed  a  week  in 
the  town  when  he  was  regarded  as  the  friend  and  adviser  of  all 
its  principal  citizens.  His  sermons  drew  crowds  as  usual,  and 
his  instructions  on  the  subject  of  Holy  Communion,  of  which 
his  hearers  proved  to  be  strangely  ignorant,  were  continued 
in  the  confessional,  and  on  every  possible  occasion.  At 
Easter  nearly  the  whole  population  approached  the  sacra- 
ments, and  communicated  without  making  the  least  diffi- 
culty, under  one  kind.  The  apostle,  broken  with  fatigue, 
for  he  had  preached  throughout  Lent,  three  times  a  week, 
besides  catechising,  visiting  the  sick,  hearing  confessions, 
and  answering  the  objections  of  all  who  came  to  him,  was 
yet  beaming  with  joy,  so  markedly  had  his  labours  been 
blessed. 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  follow  Canisius  in  his  journey  to 
Poland,  in  his  fruitful  sojourn  at  Augsburg,  in  his  campaign 
against  the  ignorance  of  the  clergy  at  Wiirzburg,  against  the 
Calvinism  of  the  Swiss  Protestants.  Everywhere  the  story  is 
the  same :  ignorance,  vice,  and  heresy  fled  before  the  bright 
light  of  his  presence,  and  his  wisdom  provided,  that  where  he 
had  planted  the  good  seed,  others  should  follow  him,  to  keep  it 
watered,  so  that  there  should  be  no  return  to  the  former  errors. 
Long  after  his  death,  the  colleges  of  the  Society  which  he 
had  founded  continued  his  work,  and  formed  an  efficient 
barrier  against  the  modern  spirit  of  revolt  from  authority  and 
order. 

If  in  a  sense  the  old  ages  of  faith  were  dead,  the  new  age 
witnessed  a  wonderful  resurrection,  the  effect  of  which  is  still 

I 


130        STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

going  on  in  our  own  day.  And  the  scourge  of  heresy  wherewith 
the  Church  in  Germany  was  scourged  to  its  ultimate  salvation 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  lies  now  a  thing  of  nought,  effete  and 
all  but  lifeless,  while  the  Bride  of  Christ  has  renewed  her  youth 
like  the  eagle. 


V 
JESUITS   AT   COURT 

LACORDAIRE  once  wrote  in  a  letter  to  Madame  Swetchine 
these  remarkable  words  concerning  the  disciples  of  St 
Ignatius: — 

"  Tout  ce  qui  m'a  tombe  sous  la  main  m'a  toujours  revolte 
par  1'emphase  ridicule  de  1'eloge,  ou  par  1'impudeur  du  blame. 
II  semble  que  cette  nature  d'hommes  ait  toujours  ote  la  raison 
a  ses  amis  et  a  ses  ennemis.  Je  voudrais  leur  consacrer  dix 
annees  d'etudes,  ne  fut  ce  que  pour  mon  plaisir  propre ;  mais 
Dieu  nous  donne  et  nous  prepare  une  bien  autre  besogne,  et 
il  faut  dire  avec  1'auteur  de  ^Imitation, '  relinque  curiosa!  Les 
Jesuites  continueront  a  faire  du  bien,  et  a  le  faire  mal 
quelquefois ;  ils  auront  des  amis  fr6netiques  et  des  ennemis 
furieux,  en  attendant  le  jour  du  jugement  dernier,  qui  sera 
pour  bien  des  raisons  un  tres-inteYessant  et  tres-curieux 
jour." 

At  no  time  has  the  world  been  more  occupied  with  the 
Jesuits  than  at  the  present  moment,  and  the  prophecy  of  the 
celebrated  Dominican  above  quoted  seems  more  than  ever 
likely  to  be  fulfilled.  If  their  friends  are  indeed  still  as 
extravagant  in  their  praise  as  Lacordaire  found  them,  perhaps 
on  the  other  hand  criticism  is  even  louder,  hatred  more  pro- 
found, accusation  more  wild  and  general.  Most  of  the 

131 


132  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

governments  of  Europe  have  banished  them,  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  the  enemies  to  progress,  to  liberal  ideas,  that 
they  have  meddled  in  politics,  and  constitute  a  danger  to 
the  State,  by  seeking  to  grasp  the  helm  of  public  affairs, 
secretly  stirring  up  the  nations  against  their  rulers. 

The  subject  appears  to  be  of  perennial  and  universal 
application,  since  even  in  this  twentieth  century,  and  in  so 
tolerant  a  country  as  England,  people  have  been  moved  to 
some  apprehension  lest  we  should  be  incurring  a  danger  in 
suffering  the  Jesuit  to  live  unmolested  in  our  midst  But  it 
is  not  our  present  ambition  to  settle  so  burning  a  question  as 
the  right  of  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  to  exist  any- 
where ;  rather  would  we  make  an  excursion  into  the  domain  of 
history,  and  inquire  what  have  been  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions, and  what  has  been  the  practice  of  the  Society  concern- 
ing politics  in  the  past,  what  has  been  the  attitude  of 
its  members,  prescribed  and  actual  towards  kings,  potentates, 
and  dynasties. 

Certain  facts  have  recently  come  to  light,  bearing  on  the 
history  of  the  Jesuits  at  the  various  German  courts  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  the  scattered  remains  of  the  private 
correspondence  belonging  to  the  archives  of  the  old  Society 
before  its  suppression  have  been  gathered  together.  What 
was  done  more  or  less  in  secret  is  now  proclaimed  on  the 
housetops,  and  the  result,  as  might  be  expected,  is  in  many  ways 
interesting  and  instructive.1 

This  correspondence  consists  of  communications  between 
the  rank  and  file,  and  the  superiors  at  Rome,  and  vice  versd,  and 
includes  the  letters  which  passed  between  the  General  and 
the  kings,  archdukes  and  other  reigning  princes,  who  were 
ostensibly  friends  of  the  Society,  but  who  did  their  best  to 
put  frequent  spokes  in  the  wheels  of  the  Constitutions. 

1  Die  Jcsuiten  an  den  deutschen  Fiirstenkofen  des  \6ten  Jahrhunderts. 
Auf  Grand  ungedruckter  Quellen.  Von  Bernhard  Duhr,  S.J.,  Freiburg 
im  Breisgau,  1901. 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  133 

The  great  dearth  of  learned  preachers  and  confessors  that 
prevailed  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  appealed 
strongly  to  the  Jesuits  to  throw  themselves  into  the  breach, 
and  thus  against  the  original  intention  of  their  founder,  they 
became  the  spiritual  guides  of  those  who  made  the  history  of 
Europe  for  the  next  hundred  years  and  more.  It  was  a 
delicate  and  an  onerous  task,  fraught  with  temptations  from 
without  and  from  within. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola,  being  a  man  of  the  world  as  well  as  a 
saint,  was  well  aware  of  the  perils  to  which  he  exposed  his 
sons,  in  sending  them  forth  into  the  midst  of  vanities,  while 
at  the  same  time,  having  had  some  experience  of  courts,  he 
knew  that  princes  love  not  contradiction.  But  he  decided  after 
mature  deliberation  that  after  all  his  "least  Society"  was 
created  to  do  a  certain  work  in  the  Church  and  in  the  world, 
the  need  of  which  work  was  only  too  apparent  in  the  decayed 
state  of  faith  and  morals.  It  was  not  by  turning  his 
back  on  courts  that  he  could  hope  to  regenerate  them  ;  but 
it  would  be  interesting  could  we  discover  whether  by  a  con- 
trary decision  he  would  have  averted  some  of  the  odium 
which  the  name  Jesuit  has  accumulated  in  the  course  of 
ages. 

John  III.  of  Portugal  was  the  first  king  to  demand  a  Jesuit 
confessor,  and  to  him  Ignatius  sent  Father  Luis  Gonzalez  de 
Comara,  much  against  the  desire  of  the  said  individual.  To  his 
entreaties  and  objections  the  first  General  of  the  Society  made 
answer,  on  the  9th  August  1552,  that  he  was  indeed  edified  by 
the  humility  which  caused  Father  de  Comara  to  shrink  from 
a  position  which  many  envied  ;  nevertheless,  he  was  of  the 
opinion  that  he  should  obey  his  Highness  in  this,  as  in  other 
things,  "  for  the  honour  of  God  our  Lord."  St  Ignatius  went 
on  to  say  that  he  need  not  occupy  himself  with  any  but  good 
and  pious  objects,  neither  had  he  reason  to  fear  that  the 
king  would,  against  the  will  of  the  Society,  confer  upon 
him  those  honours  and  dignities  with  which  it  was  the 


134  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

custom  to  distinguish  other  confessors.  If  moreover,  his 
remaining  at  court  was  a  cross  to  him,  he  must  bear  it  with 
patience  as  he  would  all  else  that  obedience  required  of 
him. 

At  the  second  General  Congregation  held  in  1565,  the 
question  arose  whether  Cardinal  Otto  of  Augsburg  might 
have  a  member  of  the  Society  attached  to  his  court,  as 
theologian.  The  Congregation  decided  not  to  allow  any 
member  to  reside  permanently  at  the  court  of  any  prince, 
spiritual  or  secular,  or  to  consent  to  his  following  the  said 
court  on  its  travels,  either  in  the  capacity  of  preacher, 
theologian  or  confessor,  and  that  no  appointment  of  such  a 
kind  should  be  permissible  for  longer  than  one  month  or  double 
that  period  at  the  most. 

Ten  years  later,  the  Provincial  Congregation  of  North 
Germany  was  reminded  of  this  decree  in  drawing  up  pro- 
positions to  be  placed  before  the  third  General  Congregation, 
and  it  was  expressly  stated  that  none  but  the  General  of  the 
Society  himself  should  have  the  power  to  make  such  appoint- 
ments, that  they  should  be  made  as  rarely  as  possible, 
experience  having  proved  that  more  harm  was  done  to  the 
confessor  by  his  residing  at  court  than  good  to  the  penitent 
by  his  ministrations.  The  reply  to  this  proposition  was 
to  the  effect  that  with  the  General  alone  should  rest  the 
appointment. 

By  degrees,  further  legislation  became  imperative,  and  the 
fifth  General  Congregation,  held  in  1593,  forbade  in  the  most 
solemn  form  every  member  of  the  Society  to  interfere  in 
politics  or  any  public  affairs  whatever.  The  decree  was  so 
absolute  that  not  only  did  it  ensure  the  imprudent  from 
taking  part  in  the  questions  of  the  day,  but  timid  confessors 
were  thereby  prevented  by  their  scruples  from  giving  counsel, 
when  appealed  to  on  matters  that  could  scarcely  be  supposed 
to  border  on  politics. 

lr\   order  therefore,   to    correct   all    misapprehension,    the 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  135 

General,  Father  Aquaviva,  issued  an  Instruction  for  the  con- 
fessors of  princes,  which  was  formally  approved  by  the  General 
Congregation  of  1608.  This  was  considered  so  important  a 
document  that  it  was  incorporated  into  the  Institute,  a  sort 
of  code,  containing  the  Constitutions  which  St  Ignatius  drew 
up,  as  well  as  the  decrees  of  General  Congregations.  The 
Instruction  was  in  fact  a  summary  of  all  previous  experience 
on  the  subject.  It  provided,  first  of  all,  that  in  cases  where 
the  Society  could  not  avoid  compliance  with  the  demand  for 
a  confessor  at  court,  great  care  should  be  taken  in  the  choice 
of  the  individual  member  to  fill  the  office,  so  that  he  might 
conduce  to  the  welfare  of  the  prince,  the  edification  of  the 
people,  and  the  avoidance  of  all  injury  to  the  Order.  The 
last  clause  bore  reference  to  the  fact  that  not  infrequently 
the  Society  was  called  upon  to  suffer  in  one  place  for  wounds 
inflicted  on  it  in  another.  Rules  for  the  said  confessor  were 
then  laid  down,  to  fit  every  possible  emergency,  and  in  minute 
detail. 

For  instance,  the  king's  confessor,  although  attached  to 
the  royal  chapel,  must  not  only  lodge  exclusively  in  a  college 
of  his  Order,  but  he  must  remain  subject  to  the  rule,  like 
any  other  member  of  the  Society.  Even  when  travelling  with 
the  court  he  was  obliged  to  sleep  in  a  house  of  his  Order, 
or  if  passing  through  a  town  where  no  such  house  existed, 
he  must  beg  hospitality  of  any  other  religious  community, 
preferably  to  passing  the  night  at  court. 

It  was  again  solemnly  impressed  upon  him  not  to  allow 
himself  to  be  drawn  into  any  secular  concerns,  which  rule 
the  king  was  humbly  petitioned  to  enforce. 

Neither  must  the  confessor  undertake  to  be  an  emissary 
between  the  prince,  his  penitent,  and  any  of  his  ministers,  or 
other  officials. 

As  regarded  the  prince  himself,  he  was  bound  to  listen  to 
his  confessor,  not  merely  when  he  exhorted  him  on  the  subject- 
matter  of  his  confessions,  but  also  jn  matters  relating  to  the. 


136  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

prevention  of  injustice,  oppression,  or  other  scandals  such  as 
often  came  about  through  the  fault  of  officials,  and  which 
were  unknown  to  the  sovereign. 

None  might  undertake  the  office  of  permanent  confessor 
at  court  without  the  consent  of  his  provincial.  It  was, 
moreover,  the  duty  of  the  provincial  before  according  such 
permission,  to  hand  this  Instruction  to  the  prince  in  order 
that  he  might  thoroughly  understand  what  the  Society  was 
willing  to  bestow  upon  him.  The  prince  was  further  to  be 
reminded  in  modest  but  decided  terms,  that  superiors  retained 
the  right  to  the  obedience  of  the  individual  who  became  his 
confessor,  as  absolutely  as  to  that  of  any  other  member  of 
the  Society. 

At  first  there  seemed  no  great  need  for  these  precautions. 
The  emperor,  Charles  V.,  chose  Dominicans  for  his  confessors, 
and  his  successor,  Ferdinand,  followed  his  example.  But 
Ferdinand  held  the  Society  in  great  esteem,  and  at  his  death 
Father  Lainez,  who  was  then  General,  ordered  that  each 
priest  in  the  college  at  Dillingen  should  offer  twelve 
Masses  for  the  repose  of  his  soul,  and  the  lay  -  brothers 
were  to  say  certain  prayers  with  the  same  intention. 
The  Society  was  not  only  indebted  to  him  for  his  unvary- 
ing friendship,  but  owed  to  his  munificence  the  foundation  of 
four  colleges,  viz.,  those  of  Vienna,  Prague,  Innsbruck,  and 
Tyrnau. 

Ferdinand's  son  and  successor,  Maximilian,  having  Pro- 
testant leanings,  dispensed  with  a  confessor  altogether,  but 
his  wife,  Dona  Maria,  sister  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  was  pro- 
vided with  a  Spanish  Franciscan,  who  was  chosen  for  her 
by  her  brother.  Maximilian's  sons  all  chose  Jesuit  confessors, 
as  did  also  his  daughter,  the  Queen  of  Bohemia. 

At  that  time  the  Lutherans  thought  that  Catholicism  was 
at  its  last  gasp,  and  they  eagerly  anticipated  the  banishment 
of  the  Jesuits.  But  Maximilian,  in  spite  of  his  Protestant 
tendencies,  was  well  disposed  towards  them,  and  their  college 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  137 

at  Vienna  received  many  marks  of  his  favour,  to  the  great 
disgust  of  his  Lutheran  subjects.  The  Protestant  nobles 
assembled  at  the  Landtag  held  in  Vienna,  attached  three 
conditions  to  their  votes  of  supplies  for  his  war  against  the 
Turks : — The  abolition  of  the  procession  of  Corpus  Christi, 
the  confirmation  of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  and  the 
banishment  of  the  Jesuits.  They  declared  that  if  the  emperor 
refused  to  grant  these  requests,  they  would  not  furnish  him 
with  the  required  subsidy  for  the  war.  Maximilian  replied 
that  it  was  his  business  to  repulse  the  Turks ;  the  other 
things  did  not  concern  him,  but  the  Pope.1 

Disappointed  in  their  hopes,  the  Lutherans,  allying  them- 
selves with  the  enemies  of  the  Jesuits  within  the  Church, 
began  to  circulate  false  reports  against  the  Society.  At  one 
moment  they  accused  Father  Peter  Canisius  of  prejudicing 
the  Pope  against  the  emperor,  at  another,  the  whole  com- 
munity at  Vienna  were  declared  guilty  of  openly  insulting 
the  Protestants.  Reiterated  complaints  poured  into  the 
emperor's  ears  ended  by  alienating  Maximilian  from  his 
former  friends,  and  it  was  difficult,  almost  impossible  for 
them  to  obtain  a  hearing.  But  the  empress  remained  loyal 
to  them,  and  would  perhaps  have  been  termed  by  Lacordaire 
frenttique. 

Father  Maggio,  who  was  then  court  preacher,  seems  to 
have  been  a  man  of  great  prudence  and  mildness,  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  religion.  By  degrees  he  not  only 
convinced  Maximilian  of  the  injustice  of  the  attacks  made  upon 
the  Society,  but  the  two  became  fast  friends,  so  that  when  he 
was  made  Provincial  of  Austria  in  1566,  the  appointment  gave 
much  satisfaction  at  court.  He  was  frequently  summoned  to 
private  audiences,  and  the  emperor  treated  him  with  so  much 
confidence  that  Father  Maggio  would  sometimes  venture  to 
address  to  him  written  words  of  exhortation,  words  which 
Maximilian  invariably  took  in  good  part.  The  empress., 
*  Orig.  G.  Epist,  6,  48  seq, 


138  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

observing  the  affection  of  her  husband  for  the  Jesuit  would 
consult  Father  Maggio  as  to  the  best  means  of  confirming 
him  in  the  Catholic  religion. 

-  When  Father  Maggio  was  made  provincial,  Father  Antonio, 
a  Portuguese  Jesuit,  became  court  preacher,  but  so  little  to  his 
own  satisfaction  that  he  repeatedly  appealed  to  the  empress 
and  to  the  General  for  his  release.  He  bewailed  his  unfitness 
for  a  post  requiring  so  much  exceptional  virtue,  and  expressed 
his  desire  to  be  sent  to  foreign  missions.  If  such  were 
not  the  will  of  his  superiors,  he  entreated  that  he  might 
have  some  humble  office  in  a  house  of  novices,  where  he 
might  live  unnoticed  by  the  world,  and  labour  for  his  soul's 
health. 

The  General,  Father  Mercurian,  replied,  on  the  i8th  March 
1576,  that  he  had  no  one  to  replace  him  at  court,  and  that  he 
must  perforce  remain  where  he  was.  Previously  to  this,  Father 
Antonio  had  besought  the  empress  to  dismiss  him,  but  she  had 
answered  that  she  counted  on  his  ministrations  at  the  hour  of 
death.  A  month  after  Father  Mercurian's  refusal  to  remove 
him,  he  again  wrote  to  the  General,  begging  that  he  might 
apply  to  the  empress  for,  at  least,  a  year's  leave  of  absence, 
during  which  time  a  locum  tenens  might  be  dispensed  with. 
Two  days  later,  he  followed  up  this  letter  with  another,  giving 
the  General  his  opinion  why  it  was  inexpedient  for  any  member 
of  the  Society  to  remain  at  court  for  more  than  a  short  term, 
such  as  a  month  or  two.  There  was,  he  said,  no  bishop, 
ambassador,  or  person  of  consequence  who  did  not  desire  to 
have  several  of  the  Fathers  about  him  ;  the  door  which,  at  their 
profession,  they  had  shut  on  the  world,  seemed  in  a  certain 
sense  to  be  reopened  by  a  residence  at  court ;  unfortunately, 
men  were  not  wanting  who  aspired  to  such  offices,  and  great 
inconveniences  ensued  thereby.  Some  grew  accustomed  to  a 
certain  independence,  little  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the 
Society,  some  were  altogether  spoiled,  and  brought  disgrace  on 
the  Order.  It  was,  perhaps,  not  astonishing  that  after  this 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  139 

letter  the  General  showed  even  less  inclination  than  before  to 
remove  Father  Antonio.  One  who  thus  appreciated  the 
dangers  of  the  world  would  be  less  likely  than  another  to  fall  a 
prey  to  them,  and  was  as  safe  at  court  as  in  fulfilling  the 
humblest  duties  of  the  noviceship. 

But  when  all  was  said  and  done,  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits 
at  the  Court  of  Vienna  was  not  very  great  Their  El  Dorado 
was  the  Archducal  Court  at  Gratz,  where  reigned  Ferdinand's 
son,  Charles  II.  Here  their  power  was  at  least  supposed  to  be 
so  great  that  their  enemies  declared  that  they  possessed  the 
master-key  of  all  the  doors  in  the  palace,  and  could  pass  through 
all  the  rooms  composing  the  apartments  of  the  Archduchess  at 
will  This,  however,  with  other  things,  she  declared  solemnly  to 
be  nothing  but  lies — nur  lautere  Liigen — and  an  attack  on  her 
honour.1 

Apart  from  these  unpleasant  calumnies,  the  Society  flourished 
at  Gratz  as  hardly  anywhere  else,  and  was  able  to  train  its 
novices,  give  the  Spiritual  Exercises,  and  administer  the  sacra- 
ments undisturbed.  The  only  difficulties  that  arose  were  in 
connection  with  the  right  of  the  provincial  to  move  his  men 
about  as  he  chose,  the  archduke,  like  the  emperor,  being 
inclined  to  regard  his  confessors  as  his  own  property.  This 
was  notably  the  case  with  the  celebrated  Father  Blyssem,  who 
received  marching  orders  in  1578.  The  Archduke  at  once 
wrote  to  the  General,  declaring  that  Father  Blyssem's  removal 
would  be  extremely  inconvenient,  and  was  not  to  be  contem- 
plated. If  the  General  were  on  the  spot  he  would  be  of  the 
archduke's  opinion.  First,  Father  Blyssem  was  his  and  the 
archduchess's  confessor,  and  they  both  wished  above  all  things 
to  keep  him.  Secondly,  he  was  not  only  a  vigilant  rector  of  the 
college  under  him,  and  an  experienced  confessor,  but  he  was 
also  an  excellent  preacher.  And  finally,  he  was  beloved  by 
all,  was  well  acquainted  with  the  idiosyncracies  of  the  country, 
enjoyed  a  good  reputation,  and  inspired  respect  even  in  the 
1  flurter,  Ferdinand  II.,  3,  578, 


140  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

opponents  of  the  Catholic  religion.  His  sudden  departure 
could  not  therefore  but  be  injurious  to  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  college,  and  detrimental  to  the  general 
good. 

Not  alone  the  archduke,  the  papal  legate,  Bishop  Ringuarda, 
also  appealed  to  the  General  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  same  interest, 
saying  that  he  had  already  sought  the  intervention  of  the  Pope 
and  the  Cardinal  of  Como,  to  prevent  the  removal  of  Father 
Blyssem.  As  he  now  heard  that,  in  spite  of  his  efforts,  Father 
Blyssem  was  to  go  to  Rome,  at  least  for  three  months,  Bishop 
Ringuarda  begged  most  urgently  that  this  order  might  be 
cancelled,  the  Father's  absence  for  even  a  week,  to  say  nothing 
of  a  month,  being  likely  to  entail  serious  harm  to  the  Church 
in  Austria.  His  daily  presence  was  so  necessary,  that  if  he 
were  not  already  at  Gratz,  he  must  be  sent  there  without  delay. 
The  legate  then  went  on  to  enumerate  all  the  wonderful 
qualities  possessed  by  the  rector,  and  ended  his  letter  with 
the  solemn  entreaty  that  the  General  would  on  no  account 
remove  him.1 

Pressure  such  as  this  being  frequently  brought  to  bear  on 
superiors,  they  could  scarcely  be  said  to  exercise  undivided 
control  over  their  own  subjects. 

Driven  into  a  corner,  Aquaviva  was  obliged  to  leave  the 
archduke's  confessor  where  he  was,  accommodating  matters 
by  making  him  Provincial  of  Austria,  in  place  of  Father  Maggio, 
Father  Emerich  Torsler  replacing  Father  Blyssem  as  rector  of 
the  college  at  Gratz.  The  archduke  expressed  himself  content 
with  the  arrangement,  provided  that  Father  Blyssem  did  not 
absent  himself  on  the  business  of  the  province  when  he  required 
him  at  his  side. 

The  new  provincial  had  occasion,  in  January  1582,  to  write 

to   the  General  about   the  sermons  of  a  certain  Father  John 

Reinel,  which  were,  he  complained,  too  lengthy  and  too  violent. 

In  regard  to  the  first  fault  he  had  improved  somewhat,  but  no 

i  Orig.  G.  Epist.,  3,  298, 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  141 

admonition  had  succeeded  in  causing  him  to  desist  from  his 
biting  attacks  on  the  heretics.  His  Paternity  was,  therefore, 
requested  to  command  him  to  observe  more  moderation  and 
gentleness,  and  instead  of  handling  the  heretics  angrily  and 
roughly,  to  teach  and  exhort  them  with  Christian  charity.  In 
this  manner  he  would  convert  a  far  greater  number,  as  every 
one  maintained.  But  if  he  continued  as  heretofore,  Father 
Blyssem  would  be  obliged  to  send  him  to  another  college,  where 
he  would  have  to  adopt  a  different  style  or  give  over  preaching 
altogether,  and  take  up  another  occupation. 

But  the  removal  of  Father  Reinel  was  not  so  simple  a 
matter  as  it  at  first  appeared.  Towards  the  end  of  the  year, 
Father  Blyssem  again  wrote  to  Aquaviva  on  the  same  subject 
It  had  been  decided  during  the  preceding  summer  to  send  the 
unmanageable  preacher  to  another  sphere  of  activity,  he  having 
been  already  so  long  a  time  at  Gratz,  where  he  was  too  much 
engrossed  in  the  court,  which  he  had  recently,  against  the 
wishes  of  his  superiors,  accompanied  in  its  journey  of  several 
months  through  Bavaria  and  Suabia,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
pulpit  at  Gratz.  Moreover,  his  harsh  and  aggressive  manner 
of  preaching  was  as  repulsive  to  the  Catholics  as  to  the 
Lutherans,  but  when,  according  to  his  instructions,  he  was  on 
the  point  of  starting  for  Vienna,  the  archduchess,  whose  con- 
fessions he  sometimes  heard  in  Father  Blyssem's  temporary 
absence,  was  so  much  aggrieved  at  the  change,  that  she 
entreated  her  husband  with  many  arguments  and  tears  to 
prevent  his  departure.  Accordingly,  the  archduke  begged  the 
provincial  to  defer  Father  Reinel's  removal  on  account  of  his 
consort's  distress,  and  this  he  apparently  did,  but  he  wrote  to 
the  General  asking  him  to  insist  on  the  order  being  carried  out, 
and  to  persuade  the  archduke  to  agree  to  it. 

Sometimes  varying  reports  were  sent  to  the  General  con- 
cerning the  behaviour  of  certain  Fathers  at  court.  Thus,  the 
rector  of  the  college  at  Gratz  wrote  somewhat  severely  of 
Father  Saxo,  who  also  was  a  favourite  in  the  most  exalted  circle. 


142  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

But   Father   Blyssem   in    a    letter    to    Aquaviva,  dated    2ist 
December  1585,  defended  him,  saying: — 

"  Your  Paternity  appears  to  be  incorrectly  informed  as  to 
Father  Saxo.  In  my  judgment,  and  in  that  of  other  Fathers  of 
consideration,  he  has  very  greatly  improved  in  his  manner  and 
conduct  towards  others.  When  I  was  at  Gratz  last  year  he  was 
in  possession  of  a  costly  little  alarum,  which  he  had  received  as 
a  present  from  a  nobleman.  He  was  well  pleased  that  the 
clock  should  be  taken  from  him,  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the 
noviceship.  The  seal  which  he  used  at  missions,  and  which  he 
would  willingly  have  kept  afterwards,  he  gave  up  at  once  at  the 
instance  of  his  superior.  He  had  received  a  great  many  books 
as  presents  in  the  course  of  his  missions,  to  assist  him  in  preach- 
ing, and  these  he  delivered  up  for  the  common  use,  after  very 
little  delay.  The  Fathers  whom  I  questioned  answered  that 
they  had  noticed  nothing  in  Father  Saxo  that  might  give 
scandal,  nor  had  they  ever  heard  anything  of  the  kind  about 
him." 

The  complaints  against  Father  Viller  were  less  easily 
answered.  He  had  filled  the  office  of  Austrian  Provincial 
between  the  years  1589  and  1595,  and  in  the  latter  year  was 
appointed  rector  of  the  college  at  Gratz.  During  this  time  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  chose  him  as  his  confessor.  Not  long 
afterwards  he  was  accused  to  the  General  of  being  a  courtier,  an 
imputation  so  vague  as  to  need  a  discursive  reply.  But  his 
long  letter  of  self-justification  addressed  to  Father  Aquaviva  is 
interesting  on  account  of  the  vivid  scenes  it  lays  before  us.  Its 
main  contents  are  these  : — 

"  Already  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago,  when  Father  Maggio 
had  left  the  province,  certain  Fathers  in  Vienna  complained 
bitterly  to  the  new  provincial,  Father  Blyssem,  that  I  had  a 
courtier-like  mind,  because  people  about  the  court  came  to  me, 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  H3 

and  I  associated  with  them.  I  was,  it  is  true,  in  favour  with 
the  imperial  council,  with  the  bishops  and  the  Hungarian 
nobles,  also  with  the  apostolic  nuntios  Delphin  and  Portia,  and 
I  laboured  to  the  extent  of  my  power  in  the  interests  of  religion. 
Father  Provincial  removed  me  from  my  office,  and  I  became 
his  secretary  and  admonitor.  Two  years  later,  when  a  visitor, 
Father  Oliver  came,  he  reinstated  me  as  Master  of  the  alumni, 
discipline  among  them  having  become  relaxed.  When  I  had 
been  another  two  years  in  this  office,  I  was  again  accused  to  the 
provincial.  I  was  deposed,  but  in  the  meantime,  the  baseless- 
ness of  the  charges  brought  against  me  having  been  proved,  I 
was  appointed  rector  at  Olmiitz,  and  Father  Provincial  assured 
me  with  tears  that  I  had  been  unjustly  treated.  Five  years 
afterwards  I  was  elected  provincial,  and  the  Father  Visitor  was 
able  to  testify  that  I  suffered  much,  even  to  the  danger  of  losing 
my  life,  in  discharging  the  duties  of  this  office  in  Bohemia  and 
Hungary.  The  next  provincial  (Father  Ferdinand  Alber) 
evinced  dislike  of  me  immediately  on  his  taking  up  office,  the 
reason  of  which  was,  I  believe,  merely  that  we  do  not  share  the 
same  opinions.  He,  like  Fathers  Bader,  Reinel,  and  Scherer,  is 
for  public  penitential  exercises  in  the  refectory  daily ;  I,  on  the 
contrary,  am  for  a  milder  proceeding,  such  as  I  have  learned  of 
Fathers  Maggio,  Everard  (Mercurian)  Goudan,  Canisius,  and 
Lanoy.  Therefore,  I  am  called  a  courtier,  even  when  I  am 
not  at  court.  The  whole  college  will  bear  witness  that  I 
go  there  less  often  than  Father  Reinel,  who  at  least  went 
once  a  day,  whereas  I  go  on  an  average  but  once  a 
week. 

"  If  it  be  objected  that  I  suffer  the  princes  to  come  frequently 
to  the  college,  I  reply,  as  I  replied  to  the  Father  Provincial,  that 
I  will  undertake  they  shall  come  no  more,  but  the  responsibility 
for  this  must  rest  with  others. 

"  I  am  further  reproached  with  having  invited  the  princes 
to  dinner  at  the  vineyard,  and  also  at  the  college,  and  that 
I  even  played  with  them  at  the  vineyard.  As  for  the  invi- 


144  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

tation,  the  princes  themselves  asked  to  be  invited,  and 
the  Apostolic  Nuntio,  and  the  Bishop  of  Laibach,  were  present 
at  the  games,  which  were,  in  my  judgment,  honourable  and 
modest. 

"  I  have  begged  to  be  removed  from  both  my  offices,  in  order 
to  remove  suspicion,  and  to  obtain  peace,  for  I  see  that  I  am 
not  agreeable  to  my  provincial,  he  having  forbidden  me  to  hear 
the  confessions  of  the  archduke  and  those  of  the  dowager 
archduchess,  who  with  her  daughters  insists  on  confessing 
to  me. 

"If  any  one  has  told  the  provincial  that  the  college  is  in  a 
bad  state,  ocular  demonstration  will  prove  the  contrary ;  every- 
thing goes  on  in  an  orderly  way.  The  archduke  receives  Holy 
Communion  every  Sunday.  He  is  burning  with  desire  to  rein- 
state the  Catholic  religion,  and  he  labours  for  the  conversion  of 
the  nobility.  Only  yesterday  a  man  in  a  very  high  position  was 
received  into  the  Church.  As  for  your  Paternity's  exhortation 
to  guard  against  the  spirit  of  the  world,  I  thank  you,  but  I  do 
not  see  how  I  am  to  do  it,  unless  I  flee  from  the  court  and  from 
those  about  it.  I  will  take  pains  to  satisfy  my  conscience  and 
obedience,  but  I  fear  that  I  shall  not  content  those  who  look  on 
the  dark  side.  If  your  Paternity  thinks  that  I  seek  the  favour 
of  princes  more  for  my  own  sake  than  that  of  the  Society,  it  is  a 
bitter  reproach,  for  I  would  rather  die  than  be  guilty  of  such  a 
fault.  The  archdukes  will  bear  me  out  how  often  I  have 
spoken  to  them  on  this  subject,  and  how  I  have  begged  them  to 
write  nothing  on  my  behalf  to  the  General  or  to  the  provincial ; 
but  they  insist  that  if  I  lay  down  the  rectorate  I  must  retain  the 
confessorship." l 

In  the  end,  this  suggested  compromise  was  effected.  Father 
Viller  was  no  longer  rector  of  Gratz,  but  remained  confessor 
to  the  archducal  family.  Nevertheless,  complaints  of  him  did 

1  Orig.  G.  Epist.,  35,  479- 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  145 

not  cease,  and  he  had  to  defend  himself  against  the  charge  of 
clinging  inordinately  to  the  worldy  advantages  of  his  position. 
In  a  confidential  letter  to  the  German  Resident  in  Rome  he 
wrote : — 

"  I  call  God  to  witness  that  I  do  not  value  the  court  and 
my  present  office  more  than  any  other  service  which  my 
superiors  may  call  upon  me  to  render  to  the  Society.  I  am 
cheerfully  ready  to  leave  the  court  at  any  moment,  and  at  the 
risk  of  losing  the  prince's  favour,  whenever  my  superior  expresses 
a  wish  that  I  should  do  so,  to  say  nothing  of  receiving  a  decided 
order.  I  have  not  so  high  an  opinion  of  my  person  that  I  seek 
consideration  on  account  of  the  favour  and  affection  of  the 
prince." 

Still  the  attacks  on  Father  Viller  did  not  cease.  Those 
who  were  for  unmitigated  austerity  looked  on  his  broad  views 
with  horror.  Father  Scherer,  one  of  the  most  rigid,  called  him 
"the  synagogue  of  Libertines."  The  provincial,  and  the 
Spaniard,  Father  Ximenes,  were  among  those  who  judged  him 
most  severely.  He  was,  moreover,  involved — and  this  is  perhaps 
less  to  his  credit  than  any  supposed  laxness  with  which  he  was 
charged — in  the  squabbles  between  the  Hapsburg  and 
Wittelsbach  royal  families,  concerning  the  bishopric  of  Passau. 
This  had  for  long  been  an  apple  of  contention  between  Austria 
and  Bavaria,  and  the  new  rector  of  the  college  at  Gratz,  Father 
Haller,  in  describing  the  situation  to  the  General,  wrote : — 
"  Outsiders  on  either  side  naturally  throw  oil  on  the  flames, 
and  as  regards  Ours,  I  doubt  whether  they  do  their  best  to 
extinguish  them,  exercising  the  necessary  charity  and  prudence. 
Father  Viller  does  the  reverse,  blaming  and  condemning 
everything  Bavarian,  while  he  praises  and  defends  the  Austrians 
indiscriminately.  Both  parties  have  their  adherents,  who 
publish  everything  from  their  own  point  of  view.  As  this 
one-sided  material  is  all  that  is  laid  before  Ours,  the  danger 

K 


146  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

is  that  the  advice  given  is  not  in  favour  of  investigation.  It 
is  taken  for  granted  that  all  that  comes  before  their  eyes  is 
true,  and  the  other  side  is  condemned  unheard.  But  as  it  is 
clear  that  the  Christian  cause  in  Germany  would  be  greatly 
benefited  by  a  union  of  the  two  parties,  it  would  be  well  worth 
the  trouble,  seeing  the  immense  influence  which  the  Society 
has  over  the  princes  and  their  advisers,  for  the  members  of 
the  Order  to  labour  with  more  zeal  than  heretofore,  to  bring 
about  this  reconciliation,  particularly  at  Prague,  Vienna, 
Munich,  and  Gratz."  He  concludes  with  the  wish  that  not 
alone  the  Society,  but  the  rulers  of  the  Church  also,  might 
advance  the  cause  of  union. 

In  a  postscript  Father  Haller  returns  to  his  charge  against 
Father  Viller,  who,  he  declares,  has  disregarded  the  rules  of 
the  fifth  General  Congregation.  At  Ferrara,  for  instance, 
he  engaged  in  a  violent  controversy  with  the  Bavarian  agent, 
Sper,  about  the  Passau  question,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
bishopric  of  Salzburg,  which  the  Bavarians  were  supposed  to 
covet  Besides  this,  Father  Viller,  blinded  by  prejudice, 
disapproved  of  the  contemplated  marriage  between  the 
Austrian  Archduke  and  the  Princess  Maria  Anna  of  Bavaria, 
"  which  he  would  prevent  if  he  could.  In  short,"  wrote  the 
provincial,  "the  good  Father  has  extravagant  and  dangerous 
notions,  and  gives  no  good  example  to  the  college." 

In  his  own  defence  Father  Viller  wrote  that  he  was  by  no 
means  averse  from  the  alliance,  that  he  had  himself  secretly 
applied  for,  and  obtained,  the  necessary  dispensation  at  Rome, 
and  had  frequently  expressed  his  earnest  desire  that  the 
marriage  might  take  place,  considering  that  a  union  between 
the  two  princely  houses  would  conduce  to  the  honour  of  both, 
and  to  the  protection  and  defence  of  the  Catholic  religion  in 
Germany. 

Only,  the  health  of  the  bride  must  be  considered  no  less 
than  her  great  and  remarkable  piety,  as  it  was  important  to 
provide  for  the  continuation  of  the  line  of  the  august  house, 


.JESUITS  AT  COURT  147 

into  which  it  was  proposed  she  should  enter.  He  had  thought 
that  as  marriage  was  so  delicate  an  affair,  foresight  was  needful, 
in  order  that  no  want  of  physical  health  and  beauty  might  in 
course  of  time  change  affection  into  aversion,  such  as  was  to 
be  daily  observed  in  the  marriages  of  so  many  illustrious 
persons.  This,  Father  Viller  declared,  was  his  whole  mind  on 
the  subject,  and  such  as  he  had  in  all  humility  expressed  it 
to  the  prince.  With  his  whole  heart  he  wished  both  exalted 
personages  the  tenderest  love,  firm  union,  and  continuous 
happiness.  He  believed  that  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  could 
not  form  a  more  suitable  alliance  with  any  other  family  in 
Europe,  but  at  the  same  time,  no  one  should  quarrel  with  him, 
Father  Viller,  for  wishing  that  the  bride  might  possess  sufficient 
corporal  health  and  beauty  to  ensure  the  well-being  of  their 
issue,  and  the  continuance  of  conjugal  affection.  For  this 
reason  he  trusted  in  the  great  piety  and  noble  character  of 
the  duke  and  duchess  that  they  would  not  endanger  the 
future  of  their  daughter,  and  that  of  her  children,  as  well  as 
the  happiness  of  their  prospective  son-in-law,  by  concealing  a 
want  of  health  on  the  part  of  their  most  devout  and  admirable 
daughter.1 

But  Duke  William  of  Bavaria  was  deeply  offended  with  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand's  confessor,  and  even  after  the  marriage 
which  took  place  on  the  23rd  April  1600,  at  Gratz,  Father  Viller 
having  indiscreetly  reopened  the  subject  of  the  bride's  want 
of  health,  complaints  of  him  reached  the  General.  But,  in  spite 
of  all  this,  he  did  not  lose  the  archduke's  favour,  retaining  his 
entire  confidence  to  the  end. 

An  incident  connected  with  the  jealousy  with  which  the 
Society  guarded  its  rule  of  non-interference  in  politics,  is 
furnished  by  the  same  Father  Viller,  who,  in  1599,  was 

1  The  reports  as  to  the  condition  of  the  Princess  Maria  Anna's  health 
appear  not  to  have  been  without  foundation.  Hurter  mentions  her 
delicacy,  and  Koch  says  that  she  was  unhealthy.  She  died  on  the  8th 
March  1616. 


148  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

appointed  to  go  to  Rome  on  a  mission  from  the  Austrian  arch- 
duke. On  this  occasion  the  General,  Father  Aquaviva,  wrote 
to  Father  Viller  as  follows : — 

"  As  at  the  present  time  general  suspicion  is  aroused, 
especially  in  Venice,  by  any  semblance  even  of  politics,  it  will 
be  difficult  to  avoid  remarks,  when  it  is  seen  that  your  reverence 
is  charged  with  an  embassy  from  the  archduke  to  the  Pope. 
And  as  the  good  prince  has  deserved  so  well  of  the  Church  and 
of  the  Society,  and  especially  as  your  reverence  has  resisted  so 
long,  excusing  yourself  in  prudent  and  religious  fashion,  it 
appears  to  me  that  a  via  media  is  possible,  and  an  exception 
may  be  made.  That  is  to  say,  that  if  the  mission  has  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  politics,  but  has  merely  regard  to  matters 
of  faith,  concerning  heretics  or  the  Turks,  your  reverence  is  at 
liberty  to  undertake  it,  and  may  set  out  as  soon  as  is  desired. 
But  if  the  business  is  a  political  one,  you  must  entreat  the 
archduke,  appealing  to  his  love  for  the  Society,  to  send  some 
one  more  suitable  in  your  place.  This  will  be  better  for  the 
archduke  himself,  and  will  confer  a  benefit  on  the  Society." l 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  during  the  reigns  of  the  Archdukes 
Ferdinand,  Charles,  and  Rudolph,  the  Court  of  Gratz  was  a 
model  of  purity,  uprightness,  and  activity.  As  the  Jesuits  were 
all-powerful  there  during  the  whole  of  this  period,  it  is  obvious 
that  this  satisfactory  condition  must,  in  a  large  measure,  be 
attributed  to  their  influence. 

The  introduction  of  the  Society  into  Innsbruck  was  the 
work  of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand,  and  the  first  Jesuit  to  labour 
in  the  new  field  was  the  Tyrolese,  Father  Charles  Grim.  At 
Innsbruck,  in  1561,  lived  the  five  so-called  queens,  daughters  of 
the  emperor,  who  lived  a  semi-religious  life,  and  who  desired  to 
be  confessed,  directed,  and  preached  to  by  members  of  the 
Society.  In  1 563  the  emperor  paid  a  visit  to  his  daughters,  and 
1  Ad.  Austr.,  1573-1600. 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  149 

inspected  the  new  college  at  Innsbruck.  He  expressed  his 
satisfaction  with  it,  and  presented  the  community  with  a 
garden. 

The  five  "queens,"  Magdalen,  Margaret,  Barbara,  Helena, 
Joanna,  had  a  great  reputation  for  piety  and  charity.  A 
young  girl,  who  had  received  severe  injuries  from  a  fire,  was 
received  into  their  palace  and  nursed  with  the  most  loving 
care.  Certain  persons  were  charged  by  them  to  inform  them 
of  cases  of  need  as  they  arose.  Father  Edmund  Hay  told 
the  General  that  three  of  the  "queens"  had  dedicated  them- 
selves to  God  by  a  vow,  and  had  resolved  to  remove  as  soon 
as  possible  from  the  turmoil  and  luxury  of  the  court  into 
greater  solitude.  One  of  them  was  especially  pious,  frequented 
the  sacraments  once  a  month  and  oftener,  and  would  practise 
very  great  austerities  if  her  confessor  would  allow  her.  In 
1565  people  already  declared  that  the  court  of  these  arch- 
duchesses was  like  a  convent ;  every  sign  of  pomp  and 
splendour  had  disappeared,  and  humility  and  modesty  reigned 
in  their  stead. 

On  the  nth  January  1566,  Father  Dirsius  wrote  to  the 
General,  St  Francis  Borgia,  in  behalf  of  the  "  queens " 
Margaret,  Magdalen,  and  Helena,  telling  him  that  their 
brothers,  the  emperor,  and  the  Archdukes  Ferdinand  and 
Charles,  fully  concurred  in  their  making  the  above-mentioned 
vow.  They  had  wished,  he  said,  to  remove  to  Munich,  with 
their  attendants,  and  to  live  there  in  a  convent  of  Poor 
Clares,  apart  from  the  world.  But  this  plan  their  brothers 
opposed,  and  desired  them  to  remain  in  Austria.  The 
emperor  had  even  offered  them  deserted  convents  in  Corinthia, 
but  in  those  parts  there  were  too  many  heretics  to  please  the 
princesses.  Everyone  advised  them  to  remain  at  Innsbruck, 
where  they  already  edified  the  faithful  by  their  virtuous 
example,  and  prevented  apostasy.  They  themselves  were 
willing  to  remain ;  at  least  they  wished  to  be  in  a  place 
where  there  was  a  college  of  the  Society,  and  were  thinking 


150  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

of  taking  the  newly-built  Franciscan  convent,  the  Italian 
Franciscans  for  whom  it  had  been  constructed  being  unlikely 
to  remain  on  account  of  the  climate  and  the  difficulties  they 
experienced  in  mastering  the  German  language.  In  case  the 
archduchesses  did  not  get  possession  of  this  convent  they  had 
also  in  view  a  house  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Innsbruck.  In 
this  event  they  humbly  begged  for  fathers  to  direct  them 
spiritually,  and  to  undertake  the  care  of  other  souls  in  the 
place. 

In  answering  this  letter  St  Francis  Borgia  said  that  the 
Society  was  ready  to  help  the  archduchesses  spiritually,  if 
only  out  of  gratitude  to  their  father  and  brother,  but  that  it 
was  contrary  to  the  Institute  for  the  members  of  the  Society 
to  live  for  any  length  of  time  apart  from  their  colleges  or 
houses,  and  it  would  in  any  case  be  displeasing  to  the  Fathers 
themselves  to  forego  the  company  and  edifying  example  of 
their  religious  brethren.  It  seemed,  therefore,  advisable  that 
the  three  princesses  should  take  up  their  abode  where  there 
was  a  college  or  house  of  the  Society,  and  preferably  at 
Innsbruck,  where  they  might  inhabit  the  house  built  by 
their  father,  or  some  other  of  the  same  description,  where 
they  might  observe  the  rule  of  life  they  had  adopted,  and 
keep  the  vow  they  had  taken  before  God.  The  Fathers 
might  hear  the  confessions  of  the  princesses  and  preach  to 
them.  A  proviso  was  afterwards  made  that,  in  the  event  of 
the  "queens"  founding  a  convent,  the  Jesuits  should  no 
longer  be  their  confessors,  as  this  would  be  directly  con- 
trary to  the  intention  of  St  Ignatius,  as  expressed  in  the 
Institute. 

The  General  then  sent  Father  Canisius  to  Innsbruck  to 
arrange  matters,  and  the  holy  apostle  of  Germany  formulated 
the  opinion  that  "  Ours  should  not  easily  receive  permission 
to  direct  women,  even  the  most  exalted  in  position,  for  we 
have  experienced  to  our  detriment  and  the  detriment  of  this 
college  in  particular,  that  Ours  are  liable  in  such  matters  to 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  151 

suffer   in   their   vocation,   and   as   a   consequence    to    become 
unbearable." l 

The  next  year  (i6th  August  1567),  Father  Peter  Canisius 
reiterated  his  apprehension  :  "  I  consider  it  extremely  difficult 
to  keep  Fathers  to  their  obedience  and  religious  disci- 
pline when  they  are  in  any  way  bound  to  the  court,"  he 
said. 

Meanwhile,  the  "  queens  "  had  chosen  Hall,  a  little  town  near 
Innsbruck,  as  their  residence,  and  Father  Dirsius  announced 
the  circumstance  to  the  General  in  these  terms : — 

"The  Queens  have  purposed  for  years  to  withdraw  from 
the  world.  Now,  with  the  consent  of  their  brothers,  they 
have  decided  to  reside  at  Hall,  and  there  with  some  of  their 
ladies  and  attendants  who  wish  to  imitate  them,  to  lead  a 
religious  life  in  common,  but  without  adopting  a  habit  or  the 
rule  of  any  religious  order.  They  need  priests,  however,  and 
wish  for  Fathers  of  the  Society.  They  beg,  therefore,  that 
the  church  to  be  built  at  Hall  with  all  its  treasures  may  be 
taken  over  by  the  Society,  for  which  they  also  wish  to  found 
a  novitiate  there." 

But  Father  Borgia  again  objected,  foreseeing  nearly  all 
the  difficulties  which  arose  later  on.  The  Society  might  not 
undertake  the  direction  of  a  community  of  women,  even 
though  these  were  not  leading  a  thoroughly  conventual  life. 
It  was  not  advisable  for  the  Fathers  to  accept  the  church 
offered  to  them  at  Hall,  because  the  college  they  were  to 
establish  in  that  place  would  have  its  own  church  connected 
with  it,  which  would  suffice.  Further,  it  was  not  convenient 
that  a  church,  communicating  with  the  house  where  the 
archduchesses  lived  with  their  suite,  should  be  handed  over 
to  them,  and  lastly,  it  was  not  the  custom  of  the  Fathers  to 
go  daily  from  their  own  to  another  church  at  a  distance,  to 
conduct  divine  service  there.  The  General  concluded  his 
letter  with  the  remark  that,  as  the  project  of  the  "  queens  "  was 

1  Kroess,  p.  177. 


152  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

directly  opposed  to  the  Institute,  nothing  further  need  be 
said  about  such  a  foundation. 

In  a  second  letter  he  instructed  Blessed  Peter  Canisius  to 
impress  upon  the  archduchesses  that  they  should  be  content 
with  the  confessor  chosen  by  the  Society  as  the  one  best 
suited  to  them.  Canisius  was  then  to  name  Father  Lanoy, 
whom  the  General  was  sending  to  Innsbruck  from  Vienna, 
the  empress  having  been  very  well  contented  with  him.  If 
they  demurred,  it  was  to  be  represented  to  them  that  it  was 
not  becoming  for  "  Ours  "  to  frequent  palaces  much.  The  less 
frequently  they  were  seen  there  the  better,  and  the  less 
people  testified  their  affection  for  them  by  sending  them  food 
and  clothes,  the  better  would  they  be  enabled  to  live  a 
community  life,  and  observe  the  Institute.  The  better  also 
would  they  be  able  to  render  spiritual  service. 

Father  Borgia  communicated  this  instruction  to  the  rector 
of  Innsbruck  College  also,  and  added  that  he  feared  the  Fathers 
were  too  much  spoiled  by  presents  from  the  "queens,"  who 
were  in  the  habit  of  sending  meals  daily  from  their  palace 
to  them.  In  answer  to  the  rector's  question  as  to  what  was 
to  be  done  with  the  food  thus  sent,  the  General  replied  that 
it  was  to  be  given  to  the  sick,  or  to  those  in  need.  It  was 
to  be  desired  that  the  "  queens "  might  be  persuaded  to  send 
no  more  things  of  the  sort.  If  they  wished  to  bestow  an 
alms  on  the  college,  they  should  do  so  in  a  more  useful  way. 
On  no  consideration  should  their  confessor  be  allowed  to  take 
his  meals  in  his  own  room  ;  sickness  being  the  only  excep- 
tion to  this  rule. 

It  was  some  time  before  the  princesses  could  be  induced 
to  give  up  sending  delicacies  to  their  confessors,  two  lackeys 
being  daily  told  off  to  carry  the  various  dishes  from  the 
palace  to  the  college.  At  last,  however,  the  unwelcome 
favours  were  stopped  by  the  rector  declaring  that  the  dinners 
thus  sent  did  not  reach  the  destination  intended,  but  were 
distributed  to  the  sick  members  of  the  community  and 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  153 

others,  the  "  queens' "  confessors  partaking  of  the  ordinary 
fare. 

Nevertheless,  the  archduchesses  gained  their  point  as 
regarded  the  other  matter,  for  in  the  end,  the  General  gave 
an  unwilling  consent  to  their  choosing  their  own  confessors, 
but  he  told  Canisius  that  this  arrangement  only  held  good 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  "queens,"  and  was  to  form  no 
precedent  After  their  death  the  Society  would  not  continue 
to  direct  the  community  of  ladies  which  they  had  founded, 
such  work  not  being  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the 
Institute,  which,  in  this  particular  as  in  others,  had  been 
approved  by  the  Holy  See. 

In  order  to  secure  the  Jesuits  permanently  as  their  directors, 
the  pious  archduchesses  determined  to  found  a  novitiate  at 
Hall,  and  to  offer  it  to  the  General  of  the  Society.  St  Francis 
Borgia  accepted  the  offer,  but  on  condition  that  no  responsi- 
bility was  to  accrue  to  the  Society  respecting  the  future  of 
the  community,  and  he  wished  it  to  be  impressed  on  the 
princesses  how  much  he  had  condescended  in  allowing  their 
confessors  to  associate  with  their  court,  such  frequent  inter- 
course with  seculars,  especially  with  ladies,  being  undesirable 
for  religious,  and  giving  occasion  to  idle  and  frivolous  remarks. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Archduchess  Magdalen  had  given 
notice  that  the  whole  machinery  of  her  court  would  be  broken 
up  in  six  months.  Those  of  her  ladies,  ladies'  maids,  and 
attendants  who  desired  to  do  so  might  follow  her  and  her 
two  sisters  into  their  spiritual  solitude  at  Hall,  no  longer  as 
servants,  but  as  companions  in  the  service  of  God.  Accord- 
ingly, by  the  end  of  October  1569,  all  was  in  readiness,  and 
the  three  princesses,  accompanied  by  six  of  their  suite  who 
had  resolved  to  share  their  penance,  removed  to  Hall,  where 
they  themselves  performed  nearly  the  whole  of  the  house- 
work, two  servants  only  being  engaged  for  the  roughest 
portion  of  the  labour.  Hereupon,  a  storm  of  abuse  broke 
over  the  heads  of  the  Innsbruck  Jesuits,  who  had,  of  course, 


154  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

originated  the  whole  affair,  seeking  their  own  advantage.     It 
was  they  who  had  persuaded  Magdalen  to  found  a  novitiate, 
and  it  was  their  fault  that  the  "  queens  "  washed  the  clothes, 
plates,   and   dishes   of  the   new    community    with    their   own 
imperial  hands,  cooking  also  the  meals  of  which  they  partook. 
Rumours  were  afloat  to  the  effect  that  the  emperor  and  the 
archdukes    were    furious.1      All    this    was,    however,    but   the 
malicious   invention   of  enemies,  and  the  facts  communicated 
to   the  General  by  the  Fathers   at  Innsbruck  reveal  nothing 
but  satisfaction  on  all  sides.     The   archduke   concurred  in  all 
that  was  done,  and  the  princesses  were  brought  to  acquiesce 
in   the   arrangement   by   which   the   Fathers    were   to   live  at 
some   distance   from   their    house,   and    the    Jesuits    rejoiced, 
inasmuch  as  they  were  left  free  to  use  the  building  handed 
over  to  them  as  a  school  or  a  novitiate,  or  to  put   it  to  any 
use  they  thought  fit     Father  Hoffaus  wrote  that  the  archduke 
had   accorded   him    a  long   and   very   gracious   audience,  and 
had  assured  him  of  his  affection  and  esteem  for  the  Society. 
On   the  5th  December,  High   Mass  had  been  sung   in   their 
church    at    Innsbruck,    and    on    the    preceding    day   he    had 
announced  a   plenary   Indulgence  to  all  who  should  assist  at 
it,  on  account  of  the  departure  of  the  "  queens."     The  archduke, 
the  "  queens,"  and  the  whole  of  the  nobility  had  been  present. 
The  archduke  had  shown  himself  extremely  gracious  and  kind, 
and   had   paid  a  visit  to    Father   George  Scharich,   who   was 
sick,   and   had   sent   him   costly  waters.     By   his   kindness  he 
had  consoled  the  whole  community.     The  same  day  he  had 
conducted  the  "queens,"  his  sisters,  solemnly  to  their  retreat 
at    Hall,   and   on   the   next   had  left  for  Prague,  upon  which 
Father  Hoffaus  had  taken  possession  of  the  new  college. 

On   the   3ist  January   1570,  the  same  Father  wrote  from 
Innsbruck : — 

"The  college  at   Hall   is  going  on   quietly.      The  queen 
1  Orig.  G.  Epist.,  9,  133. 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  155 

scarcely  worries  us  at  all ;  she  has  not  yet  entered  our  house 
since  we  went  there,  and  she  seldom  sends  for  us.  In  short, 
she  leaves  us  in  peace,  and  if  this  continues,  no  one  can 
complain  of  her,  except  that  she  generally  detains  her  confessor 
for  nearly  two  hours  after  Mass.  But  this  can  be  borne,  as 
there  is  no  danger,  and  as  I  have  often  called  her  attention 
to  it  and  have  blamed  her  for  it,  she  is  now  rather  more 
considerate." 

The  following  extracts  from  "  Queen "  Magdalen's  statute- 
book  for  her  community  show  somewhat  amusingly  that  the 
continual  exhortations  of  the  superiors  of  the  Society  had  made 
some  impression  : — 

"  Jesuits  are  to  be  chosen  as  confessors.  Out  of  confession 
none  must  speak  with  her  confessor  without  the  permission 
of  her  superioress,  who  shall  not  give  leave  unless  there  be 
sufficient  reason  for  it.  For  although  one  may  have  a  scruple 
or  a  temptation,  this  can  be  deferred  to  the  next  confession. 
An  exception  must  be  made  for  the  superioress  herself,  for 
it  is  needful  that  she  speak  often  with  him,  but  not  always 
necessary  for  her  to  take  him  up  to  the  house  ;  sometimes 
she  can  confer  with  him  in  the  lodge  or  in  the  lower  corridor. 
They  must  not  make  acquaintance  with  any  other  of  the 
Fathers,  or  invite  them  to  the  house,  neither  must  they  send 
food  to  any  sick  Father,  except  in  cases  of  great  need,  and 
only  for  a  short  time,  say  for  a  week,  but  not  longer.  Neither 
must  they  give  them  money  daily  to  buy  milk,  butter,  and 
such  like  things,  but  now  and  again,  if  necessary,  they  may 
give  them  the  wherewithal  to  procure  cheese  and  lard." 

Notwithstanding  these  regulations,  none  must  suppose  that 
the  archduchess  is  devoid  of  confidence  or  regard  for  the 
Fathers  or  for  priests  in  general.  All  her  life  she  has  "  loved 
them  in  God,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  to  the  end ;  but 
there  are  many  things  good  in  themselves,  and  agreeable  to 
God,  which  must  nevertheless  be  avoided  for  the  sake  of  a 


156  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

better  thing  still."  If  her  spiritual  daughters  are  careful  to 
avoid  exaggeration,  and  observe  her  precepts  faithfully,  they 
will  find  the  Society  better  disposed  towards  them,  will  help 
them  to  save  their  souls,  and  will  be  less  likely  to  change 
their  confessors. 

But  in  spite  of  her  natvete,  and  of  the  excellent  advice 
she  gave  to  others,  there  were,  for  several  years,  innumerable 
difficulties  with  regard  to  the  Archduchess  Magdalen's  con- 
fessor, Father  Hezcovaus.  He  was  infirm  in  health,  and 
needed  much  waiting  upon,  day  and  night.  Moreover,  he 
observed  the  rule  as  little  as  possible,  and  his  august  penitent 
unwisely  took  his  part  against  his  superior  far  more  than 
was  desirable.  It  was  at  last  decided  that  he  should  be  dis- 
pensed altogether  from  keeping  the  rule,  that  he  need  only 
obey  the  General,  and  his  confessor,  and  that  he  might  receive 
from  the  Archduchess  Magdalen  all  that  he  needed  for  his 
support.  But  even  this  was  not  enough,  and  sometimes  it 
was  debated  whether  Father  Hezcovaus  should  still  be  included 
in  the  list  of  those  belonging  to  the  college. 

On  the  1 2th  October  1584,  the  provincial,  Father  Bader, 
ordered  that  the  servants  of  this  Father  should  not  come  and 
go,  and  run  in  and  out,  as  he  and  they  pleased.  If  he 
required  anything  in  the  night,  the  other  Fathers  should  be 
ready  to  assist  him  charitably  and  patiently. 

But  there  were  still  other  difficulties  at  Hall,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  quasi-religious  community,  such  as  St  Francis 
Borgia  had  predicted,  and  these  rose  to  such  a  pitch,  that  in 
1596,  Father  Hoffaus  expressed  his  opinion  to  the  General, 
that  it  would  be  better  to  give  up  their  college  there,  and 
so  once  for  all  get  rid  of  the  burden  imposed  on  the  Society 
by  "  Queen  Magdalen." 

The  whole  trend  of  this  correspondence  shows  the  tre- 
mendous obstacles  which  the  Jesuits  encountered,  not  merely 
at  Innsbruck  but  throughout  Austria  and  Bavaria,  in  their 
efforts  to  abstain  from  all  that  was  alien  to  their  vocation. 


JESUITS  AT  COURT  157 

It  is  curious  in  these  days  to  note  how  much  the  old  Society 
suffered  from  a  superabundance  of  favour  on  the  part  of 
princes.  And  far  from  being  stereotyped  reproductions  of 
one  unvarying  pattern  or  spiritual  automata  turned  out  of 
one  mould,  the  Jesuits,  as  represented  in  their  own  private 
correspondence,  which  was  never  intended  for  the  public  eye, 
reveal  a  considerable  amount  of  individuality.  The  interpreta- 
tion of  the  rule  was  elastic  enough  to  give  scope  to  much 
diversity  of  opinion,  and  if  superiors  were  jealous  guardians 
of  the  Institute,  they  encountered  sufficient  idiosyncrasy 
among  their  subjects  to  prevent  any  rigidity  in  apply- 
ing it 

It  seems  more  than  likely  that  if  Lacordaire  had  had  his 
wish,  and  had  been  able  to  dedicate  ten  years  of  his  life  to 
the  study  of  the  Jesuit  character,  he  would  have  found  on 
the  whole  that  he  had,  after  all,  set  himself  the  very  ordinary 
task  of  watching  a  perpetual  conflict  between  a  high  ideal 
and  that  frailty  which  is  inseparable  from  human  nature. 


VI 

GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND 

THE  revolt  from  Scholasticism  in  the  sixteenth  century,  led  by 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  John  Colet,  and  other  apostles  of  the 
new  learning,  reached  farther,  and  was  productive  of  other  results 
than  these  had  intended  or  anticipated. 

Erasmus  was  called  an  infidel  by  the  friars,  but  he  always 
stoutly  protested  his  adherence  to  the  Church  of  which  the  Pope 
was  the  head  ;  and  Colet  has  been  considered  by  many  as  a 
herald  of  the  Reformation,  although  he  died  a  Catholic.  Erasmus, 
by  his  own  showing,  was  no  infidel,  and  there  are  sufficient 
indications  that  Colet,  even  had  his  life  been  prolonged,  would 
never  have  gone  over  to  the  enemy ;  but  both  had  given 
cause  for  apprehension  by  opening  doors  to  a  profound  dissatis- 
faction, to  novel  theories  and  extravagant  systems,  which  many 
friends  of  Erasmus  carried  on  to  a  denial  of  all  revealed 
religion. 

In  throwing  discredit  on  the  schoolmen,  Erasmus  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  a  contempt  of  Aristotle  himself,  and  when  the 
ex-friar  Giordano  Bruno  of  Nola  appeared  as  a  leader  of  revolt, 
distinct  from  Luther  and  Calvin,  he  found  in  Italy  and  France 
a  small  band  of  intellectual  revolutionists  clamouring  for  a 
philosophy  that  should  emancipate  them  from  the  thraldrom  of 
Christianity,  and  yet  save  them  from  the  dishonourable  name  of 
atheists. 

They  wished  to  be  called  deists  ;  not  because  they  favoured 

158 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  159 

any  particular  form  or  system  of  religion,  but  as  a  sign  that 
they  acknowledged,  in  some  vague  and  undefined  sense,  a 
Supreme  Being,  and  were  content  to  follow  the  light  and  law  of 
nature,  rejecting  revelation,  and  placing  themselves  in  opposi- 
tion to  Christianity. 

Bruno  gave  them  a  philosophical  system  that  was  neither 
platonic  nor  peripatetic,  nor  was  it  mystic,  but  a  confused 
jumble  of  all  three  systems,  and,  according  to  Bayle,  "  the  most 
monstrous  that  could  be  devised,  and  directly  opposed  to  all 
the  most  evident  ideas  of  our  intelligence."  He  goes  on 
to  say  that  Bruno,  in  his  war  against  Aristotle,  invented 
doctrines  a  thousand  times  more  obscure  than  the  most 
incomprehensible  things  written  by  the  disciples  of  Aquinas  or 
Scotus.1 

The  new  philosopher  was  accused  among  other  heresies  of 
teaching  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  punishment  for  sin ;  that 
the  soul  of  man  is  a  product  of  nature  differing  in  no  sense 
from  the  soul  of  a  brute,  and  that  God  is  not  its  author.  In  his 
deposition  at  his  trial,  Bruno  begged  the  question  of  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  in  these  words  :  "  I  have  held  and  do  hold 
that  souls  are  immortal,  and  that  they  are  subsisting  substances 
(that  is  the  intellectual  souls),  and  that  speaking  in  a  Catholic 
manner,  they  do  not  pass  from  one  body  to  another,  but 
they  go  either  to  Paradise,  to  Purgatory,  or  to  Hell.  Never- 
theless, in  philosophy  I  have  reasoned  that  the  soul  subsist- 
ing without  the  body,  and  non-existent  in  the  body,  may  in 
the  same  way  that  it  is  in  one  body  be  in  another  ;  the  which, 
if  it  be  not  true,  at  least  appears  to  be  the  opinion  of 
Pythagoras."  2 

His  disciples  aver  that,  although  Bruno  did  not  enforce  the 
doctrine  of  metempsychosis,  he  held  it  to  be  very  well  worthy 
of  consideration.  There  is  perhaps  a  distinction  without  a 

1  Bayle,  Dictionnaire,  Historique  et  Critique,  article  "  Bruno,"  vol.  i. 

2  Doc.  XII. 


100  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

difference  between  the  terms  "  immortality  of  the  soul,"  and 
the  "indestructibility  of  the  monad,"  an  expression  dear  to 
Bruno's  followers,  and  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  his  writings ; 
but  we  are  accustomed  to  associate  the  latter  term  with  the 
worship  of  nature  according  to  the  pantheistic  gospel  which 
recognises  a  soul  in  every  leaf  that  stirs  ;  and  (this  brings  us  to 
the  very  essence  of  Bruno's  philosophy,  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible 
to  arrive  at  any  definite  conclusion,  amid  the  obscure  maze  of 
words  with  which  he  surrounded  his  ideas. 

None  of  his  disciples  repudiate  for  him  the  title  of  pantheist, 
but  Mrs  Besant,1  an  ardent  defender  of  the  Nolan  philosopher, 
went  a  step  further,  and  declared  pantheism  itself  to  be  "  veiled 
atheism."  Moreover,  she  says,  "  So  thoroughly  does  pantheism 
strike  at  the  root  of  all  idea  of  God,  as  taught  by  theists,  that 
we  can  scarce  think  that  Bruno  was  unfairly  judged  when  called 
atheist  by  his  contemporaries ;  the  conception  of  the  pantheist 
cannot  be  called  a  God  in  the  commonly  accepted  sense  of  that 
term." 

Having  arrived  thus  far,  the  panegyrist  breaks  out  into 
eulogy  of  "the  grandest  hero  of  free-thought,"  and  claims  for 
Bruno  the  proud  distinction  of  materialist. 

Others  of  his  admirers,  and  notably  his  English  biographer, 
Frith,  declare  that  the  aim  of  the  Nolan  philosophy  is  to  over- 
come the  fear  of  death,  and  to  fill  the  soul  with  noble  aspira- 
tions, while  they  maintain  that  its  author  forestalled  Darwin 
and  Herbert  Spencer  in  their  theory  of  evolution.  "  Nobody  is 
to-day  the  same  as  yesterday.  All  things,  even  the  smallest, 
have  their  share  in  the  universal  intelligence,  or  universal 
thinking  power.  For  without  a  certain  degree  of  sense  or 
cognition,  the  drop  of  water  could  not  assume  the  spherical 
shape  which  is  essential  to  the  preservation  of  its  forces.  All 
things  participate  in  the  universal  intelligence,  and  hence  come 
attraction  and  repulsion,  love  and  hate.  Nature  shows  forth 

1  In  her  Giordano  Bruno,  p.  5.     London,  1877. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  161 

each  species  before  it  enters  into  life.  Thus  each  species  is  the 
starting-point  for  the  next."  These  are  some  of  the  ideas,  the 
conception  of  which  is  supposed  to  shadow  forth  Bruno's  antici- 
pation of  modern  thought. 

Landseck,  his  principal  German  biographer,  makes  him  the 
link  between  antiquity  and  the  celebrated  thinkers  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  considers  the  doctrine  of  the  indes- 
tructibility of  the  monad  to  be  that  belief  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  which  was  professed  by  the  Druids,  the  Egyptians,  the 
Brahmins,  and  the  Buddhists,  the  belief  of  Pythagoras  and  Plato, 
of  Plotinus,  of  Lessing,  and  of  Goethe,  in  unison  with  the  evolu- 
tion of  Darwin  and  Haeckel.1 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  consider  here  all  Bruno's  articles  of 
faith  or  unfaith,  but  rather  to  show  the  general  tendency  of  his 
teaching,  in  order  to  trace  its  effect  upon  his  contemporaries  in 
England.  His  philosophy,  itself  a  travesty  of  various  systems, 
was  in  its  turn  caricatured  and  vulgarised  in  a  manner  which 
would,  perhaps,  had  he  lived  to  see  it,  have  gone  far  to  persuade 
him  of  the  risk  to  popular  order  and  morality  which  he  incurred, 
in  taking  from  people  their  belief  in  a  personal  God,  and  fear  of 
the  consequences  of  sin. 

Some  years  ago  a  statue  was  raised  to  his  honour  on  the 
Campo  dei  Fiori  in  Rome,  on  the  alleged  spot  of  his  execu- 
tion, as  a  vindication  of  those  principles  for  which  he  chose 
to  die.  In  his  own  day  they  were  held  to  be  dangerous  to 
the  State,  and  subversive  of  public  morality,  and  he  was 
forced  to  fly  before  the  opposition  they  aroused  from  almost 
every  place  in  which  he  attempted  to  propagate  them.  The 
enmity  of  the  Calvinists  drove  him  from  Geneva ;  at  Toulouse 
the  Huguenots  made  his  life  unbearable;  the  Oxford  of 
Elizabeth,  as  intolerant  as  Rome,  proved  no  agreeable  sojourn, 
but  he  left  traces  of  his  passage  through  England,  which 
Elizabeth,  however  much  she  favoured  him  at  the  time  of 
his  visit,  was  afterwards  at  great  pains  to  efface. 

1  Landseck,  Bruno  der  Mdrtyrer  der  neuen  Weltanschauung,  p.  37. 

L 


162  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

The  period  of  his  stay  in  this  country  extended  over  two 
years,  from  1583  to  1585,  and  although  in  general  he  met 
with  little  encouragement  from  the  learned,  he  succeeded  in 
making  some  proselytes.  In  London,  he  lodged  at  the  house 
of  the  French  ambassador,  and  went  frequently  to  court,  where 
he  maintained  his  footing  by  pretending  to  be  smitten  by 
the  mature  charms  of  the  queen.  Among  his  English  friends 
were  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  Sir  Fulke  Greville,  Dyer,  Spenser, 
and  Temple,  and  it  has  even  been  asserted  that  his  system 
to  a  certain  degree  influenced  Bacon,  and  may  be  traced  in 
the  Novum  Organon.1  This  is,  however,  an  erroneous  view, 
for  Bacon's  term  "  form "  means  no  more  than  law,  for  the 
form  of  a  substance  is  its  very  essence,  whereas  with  Bruno, 
form  and  matter  are  expressions  which  stand  for  forces.2 
According  to  St  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  followed  Aristotle, 
form  is  the  determining  principle  in  the  constitution  of 
bodies. 

Sidney's  biographer,3  while  jealous  lest  any  taint  of  error 
should  be  supposed  to  infect  his  hero,  nevertheless  admits 
unwillingly  that  Giordano  Bruno,  Sir  Fulke  Greville,  and  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  were  wont  to  discuss  philosophical  and  meta- 
physical subjects  "of  a  nice  and  delicate  nature  with  closed 
doors." 

Dr  Joseph  Warton,  editor  of  Pope's  works,  says  that, 
among  many  things  related  of  the  life  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
it  does  not  seem  to  be  much  known  that  he  was  the  intimate 
friend  and  patron  of  the  famous  atheist,  Giordano  Bruno,  who 
was  in  a  secret  club  with  him  and  Sir  Fulke  Greville  in 
1587.  The  date  is  incorrect,  but  the  intimacy  is  confirmed 
by  Bruno's  dedication  to  the  English  poet  of  two  of  his 
works,  the  one  being  entitled  Spaccio  de  la  Bestia  Trionfaute, 
a  book  which  is  admittedly  blasphemous  and  obscene,  where 

1  Book  ii.,  Aphors.  I,  4,  13,  15,  17. 

2  Frith,  Life  of  Giordano  Bruno,  p.  107.     London,  1887. 

3  Zouch,  Memoirs  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney ',  p.  337,  note. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  163 

it  is  not  so  obscure  as  to  be  unintelligible,  the  other  the  no 
less  notorious  Heroici  Furori. 

Soon  after  Bruno's  departure  from  England,  the  result  of 
his  teaching  began  to  appear  in  many  places  throughout  the 
country.  Elizabeth's  Council  became  alarmed.  State  in- 
differentism  to  religion  was  as  yet  unknown,  and  the  new 
sectarianism  appealing  strongly  to  the  ignorant  and  the  profane, 
politicians  were  not  slow  to  take  cognisance  that  questions  of 
the  highest  moment  were  being  introduced  into  tavern  brawls 
and  gutter  oratory.  Others  besides  Catholics  began  to 
absent  themselves  from  the  new  English  Church  service  and 
sermons;  and  fragments  of  conversation  that  savoured  of 
"  atheism "  were  frequently  reported  to  the  local  magistrates. 
An  investigation  into  the  causes  and  authors  of  the  dis- 
turbances was  set  on  foot,  and  it  was  felt  that  a  scapegoat 
was  needed  to  create  a  wholesome  fear  of  the  long  arm  of 
the  law  in  the  minds  of  would-be  atheists  among  the 
people.1 

Sir  Philip  Sidney  was  too  much  the  world's  darling,  too 
elegant  a  figure  in  the  Elizabethan  pageant,  too  ethereal  a 
poet,  to  be  burdened  with  the  brunt  of  so  serious  an  ac- 
cusation, and  he  was  passed  by  for  one  who,  with  all  his 
brilliant  gifts  and  attainments,  had  ever  been  the  child  of 
misfortune. 

Perhaps  no  one  ever  excited  more  jealousy  and  ill-will 
among  his  contemporaries  than  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.  His  life 
at  court  alternated  between  magnificent  success  and  the  most 
crushing  defeat  He  was  successively  the  friend,  the  rival,  the 
enemy  of  Essex,  and  when  that  favourite's  star  was  in  the 
ascendant,  his  waned,  until  a  change  in  the  queen's  fickle 
fancy  made  him  again,  for  a  short  period,  an  object  of 
admiration  and  envy.  A  soldier  of  fortune,  a  planter  of 


1  Bruno's  latest  biographer,  Mr  L.  Mclntyre  (Giordano  Bruno,  London, 
1903),  entirely  ignores  the  effect  of  his  hero's  teaching  in  England. 


164  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

colonies,  an  admiral,  a  courtier,  a  statesman,  a  wit,  a  scholar, 
a  chemist,  an  agriculturist,  he  was  eminent  as  each  of  these, 
and  his  exploits  in  Guiana  read  like  some  fantastic  tale  of 
fictitious  adventure.  His  History  of  the  World,  although 
but  a  fragment  of  what  he  intended  it  to  be,  is  never- 
theless a  monument  of  prodigious  learning,  sobriety,  and 
patience. 

Edwards,  in  his  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  says  that  in 
his  graver  hours  he  had  strong  theological  convictions  which 
agreed  in  many  points  with  those  of  the  leading  Puritans.  Such 
was  probably  in  all  sincerity  his  frame  of  mind  towards  the  end 
of  his  strange  career;  but  up  to  the  time  of  his  trial  in  1603, 
he  seems  to  have  been  active  in  disseminating  the  doctrines 
which  had  become  popular  since  the  baneful  sojourn  of 
Bruno  in  this  country.  Raleigh's  biographer  admits  that  his 
attempt  on  his  own  life  in  the  Tower,  subsequent  to  his 
trial,  is  in  favour  of  the  unhappy  prisoner's  atheism  at  that 
time.1 

The  first  apparently  to  accuse  Raleigh  of  atheism  in  a 
formal  manner  was  the  Jesuit  provincial,  Robert  Parsons,  who, 
in  a  book  published  in  1592  and  now  very  rare,  mentions 
"  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  school  of  atheism  .  .  .  and  of  the 
diligence  used  to  get  young  gentlemen  to  this  school,  wherein 
both  Moses  and  our  Saviour,  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
are  jested  at,  and  the  scholars  taught  among  other  things  to 
spell  God  backwards.2  Cayley  treats  this  accusation  as  a 
calumny,3  and  Birch  describes  its  author  as  the  "virulent  but 


1  "  Sir  Walter   Raleigh   is  said   to  have   declared   that   his   design   to 
kill  himself  arose  from  no  feeling  of  fear,  but  was  formed  in  order  that 
his  fate  might  not  serve  as   a  triumph   to  his  enemies   whose   power  to 
put  him  to  death,  despite  his  innocency,  he  well  knows"  (The  Count  of 
Beaumont  to    Henry   IV.,   I3th   August   1603.      Copy  in  Hard  wick  MS., 
p.  18). 

2  An  advertisement  concerning  the  Responsio  ad  Elizabeths  edictum, 
1592. 

3  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  i.  140, 


Photo  l>y  Eim-nj  Walker. 

SIR  WALTER  RALEIGH. 

From  a  Portrait  by  F.  Zucharo  in  tlie  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


[To  Jacc  jx/rjc  164. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  165 

learned  and  ingenious  Father  Parsons " ; l  but  Osborn,  in  the 
preface  to  his  Miscellany  of  Sundry  Essays,  Paradoxes,  etc,  in 
speaking  of  Raleigh,  says  that  Queen  Elizabeth  "chid  him 
who  was  ever  after  branded  with  the  title  of  an  atheist, 
though  a  known  asserter  of  God  and  Providence." 

The  year  after  the  appearance  of  Father  Parsons'  little 
book,  steps  were  taken  for  proving  the  truth  of  the  reports 
which  had  now  become  common,  and  it  is  remarkable  that 
none  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  biographers  seem  to  have  been 
aware  of  an  elaborate  interrogatory  that  was  drawn  up  and 
administered  for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  from  sworn  witnesses 
evidence  concerning  his  religious  opinions,  and  those  of  his 
family,  dependents,  and  friends.  The  original  seems  to  have 
disappeared,  but  a  contemporary  copy  of  this  document  is  to 
be  found  among  the  Harleian  papers  in  the  British  Museum, 
together  with  the  evidence  obtained  by  means  of  the  inter- 
rogatory. As  it  is  extremely  pertinent  to  the  subject  in 
question,  and  has  hitherto  escaped  notice,  the  nine  questions 
administered  with  a  selection  of  the  most  interesting  deposi- 
tions of  the  witnesses  are  here  given  in  detail.  For  a  com- 
plete account  of  the  examinations  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  manuscript2 

Dorset. 

Interrogatory  to  be  ministered  unto  such  as  are  to  be 
examined  in  her  Majesty's  name,  by  virtue  of  her  Highness's 
commission  for  causes  ecclesiastical. 

i.  Imprimis.  Whom  do  you  know  or  have  heard  to  be  suspected 
of  atheism  or  apostasy  ?  And  in  what  manner  do  you 
know  or  have  heard  the  same  ?  And  what  other  notice 
can  you  give  thereof? 

1  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  \.  140. 

2  Harl.  6849,  f.  183. 


166  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

2.  Whom  do  you  know  or  have  heard  that  have  argued  or 

spoken  against,  or  as  doubting  the  Being  of  any  God,  or 
what  or  where  God  is,  or  to  swear  by  God,  adding  if 
there  be  a  God  or  such  like  ;  and  when  and  where  was 
the  same  ?  And  what  other  notice  can  you  give  of  any 
such  offender  ? 

3.  Whom    do   you   know    or    have   heard   that    hath    spoken 

against  God,  His  Providence  over  the  world  ?  or  of  the 
world's  beginning  or  ending?  or  of  predestination,  or  of 
Heaven  or  of  Hell,  or  of  the  Resurrection,  in  doubtful 
or  contentious  manner?  When  and  where  was  the 
same  ?  and  what  other  notice  can  you  give  of  any  such 
offender  ? 

4.  Whom  do  you  know  or  have  heard  that  hath  spoken  against 

the  truth  of  God  His  holy  Word,  revealed  to  us  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  or  of  some 
places  thereof?  or  have  said  those  Scriptures  are  not 
to  be  believed  and  defended  by  her  Majesty  for 
doctrine,  and  faith,  and  salvation,  but  only  of  policy 
or  civil  government,  and  when  and  where  was  the  same  ? 
And  what  other  notice  can  you  give  of  any  such 
offender  ? 

5.  Whom  do  you  know  or  have  heard  hath  blasphemously  cursed 

God ;  as  in  saying  one  time  (as  it  rained  when  he  was  a- 
hawking),  "  if  there  be  a  God,  a  pox  on  that  God  which 
sendeth  such  weather  to  mar  our  sport,"  or  such  like  ?  or 
do  you  know  or  have  heard  of  any  that  hath  broken 
forth  into  any  other  words  of  blasphemy,  and  where  was 
the  same  ? 

6.  Whom  do  you  know  or  have  heard  to  have  said  that  when 

he  was  dead,  his  soul  should  be  hanged  on  the  top  of  a 
pole  and  "  run  God,  run  Devil,  and  fetch  it  that  would 
have  it,"  or  to  like  effect,  or  that  hath  otherwise 
spoken  against  the  being  or  immortality  of  the  soul  of 
men,  or  that  a  man's  soul  should  die  and  become  like 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  16? 

the  soul  of  a  beast,  or  such  like,  and  when  and  where 
was  the  same  ? 

7.  Whom  do  you  know  or  have  heard  hath  counselled,  pro- 

cured, aided,  comforted,  or  conferred  with  any  such 
offender?  When,  where,  and  in  what  manner  was  the 
same? 

8.  Do  you   know  or  have  heard  of  any  of  those  offenders  to 

affirm  all  such  that  were  not  of  their  opinions  touching 
the  premises,  to  be  schismatics  and  in  error.  And  whom 
do  you  know  hath  so  affirmed  ?  And  when  and  where 
was  it  spoken  ? 

9.  What  can  you  say  more  of  any  of  the  premises,  or  whom 

have  you  known  or  heard  can  give  any  notice  of  the 
same  ?  And  speak  all  your  knowledge  therein. 

Hereupon  follows  the  report  of  the  Royal  Commissioners  on 
the  depositions  of  witnesses  examined  by  them  with  the  above 
formulary : — 

"  Examinations  taken  at  Cearne,  co.  Dorset,  2 1  March, 
36  Eliz.,  before  us,  Tho.  Lord  Howard,  Viscount  Howard  of 
Bindon,  Sir  Ralph  Horsey,  knt,  Francis  James,  Chancellor, 
John  Williams,  and  Francis  Hawley,  esquires,  by  virtue  of  a 
commission  to  us  and  others,  directed  from  some  of  her 
Majesty's  High  Commissioners  in  causes  ecclesiastical."1 

From  the  two  first  witnesses  examined,  John  Hancock, 
parson  of  South  Parrot,  and  Richard  Bagage,  churchwarden  of 
Lo,  no  information  was  obtained.  The  third  witness,  John 
Jesopp,  minister,  of  Gillingham,  "said  nothing  of  his  own 
knowledge,  but  had  heard  that  one  Herryott,  of  Sir  Walter 
Rawleigh  his  house,  had  brought  the  Godhead  in  question,  and 
the  whole  course  of  the  Scriptures,  but  of  whom  he  so  heard  it 
he  did  not  remember.  [Thomas  Harriot  was  an  acknowledged 


1  On  the  last  page  is  written  :  "  These  examinations  are  the  trew  copies 
taken  at  Cearne,  21  March  1593." 


168  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

deist,  and  Raleigh  had  taken  him  into  his  house  to  study 
mathematics  with  him.]  He  heard  his  brother,  Dr  Jesopp,  say 
that  Mr  Carew  Rawleigh,  reasoning  with  Mr  Parry  and  Mr 
Archdeacon  about  the  Godhead  [as  he  conjectureth],  his  said 
brother,  thinking  that  Mr  Archdeacon  and  Mr  Parry  would 
take  offence  at  that  argument,  desired  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Worcester  [then  being  there]  that  he  might  argue  with  the 
said  Mr  Rawleigh,  for,  said  he,  your  Lordship  shall  hear  him 
argue  as  like  a  pagan  as  ever  you  heard  any.  But  the 
matter  was  so  shut  up,  as  this  examinate  heard  his  brother 
say,  and  proceeded  not  to  argument,  and  further  he  saith 
that  he  hath  heard  one  Allen,  now  of  Portland  Castle, 
suspected  of  atheism,  but  of  whom  he  heard  it  he  remembereth 
not." 

William  Hussey,  churchwarden  of  Gillingham,  corro- 
borated the  report  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  suspected 
atheism. 

John  Davis,  curate  of  Motcomb,  "  to  the  first  interrogatory 
saith  that  he  knoweth  of  no  such  person  directly,  but  he  hath 
heard  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  by  general  report,  hath  had  some 
reasoning  against  the  deity  of  God  and  His  omnipotence ;  and 
hath  heard  the  like  of  Mr  Carew  Raleigh,  but  not  so  directly. 
Also  he  saith  he  heard  the  like  report  of  one,  Mr  Thinn,  of 
Wiltshire,  which  he  heard  from  a  barber  in  Warminster, 
dwelling  in  a  by-lane  there,  who  told  this  deponent  he  did 
marvel  that  a  gentleman  of  his  condition  should  deliver  words 
to  so  mean  a  man  as  himself,  tending  to  this  sense,  as  though 
God's  Providence  did  not  reach  over  all  creatures,  or  to  like 
effect. 

"  To  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  interrogatory  he  saith 
he  hath  heard  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  hath  argued  with  one 
Mr  Ironside,  at  Sir  George  Trenchard's,  touching  the  being  or 
immortality  of  the  soul,  or  such  like  ;  but  the  certainty  thereof 
he  cannot  say  further,  saving  asking  the  same  of  Mr  Ironside 
upon  the  report  aforesaid  ;  he  hath  answered  that  the  matter 


169 

was  not  as  the  voice  of  the  country  reported  thereof,  or  to  the 
like  effect." 

The  next  witness,  Nicholas  Jefferies,  declared  that  he  did 
not  know  personally  any  atheist  in  the  county  of  Dorset, 
but  testified  to  the  report  of  many  "  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
and  his  retinue  are  generally  suspected  of  atheism,"  and  he 
quoted  the  above-mentioned  Allen,  Lieutenant  of  Portland 
Castle,  as  "  a  great  blasphemer  and  light  esteemer  of  religion, 
and  thereabout  cometh  not  to  divine  service  or  sermons." 
He  also  mentioned  the  circumstance  that  "  Herryott,  at- 
tendant on  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  hath  been  convened  before 
the  Lords  of  the  Council  for  denying  the  resurrection  of  the 
body." 

This  witness  also  gave  a  circumstantial  account  of  the 
conversation  between  Sir  Walter,  his  brother  Carew,  and 
Mr  Ironside  at  Sir  George  Trenchard's  table,  but  as  Mr 
Ironside  was  himself  subsequently  sworn  and  examined,  it 
is  better  to  quote  his  own  words.  It  is  significant  of  the 
credibility  of  these  witnesses,  that  the  evidence  of  Jefferies, 
although  he  merely  reported  what  Mr  Ironside  had  told  him 
of  the  conversation,  and  could  not  remember  all  that  had 
been  said,  tallies  completely  with  the  evidence  of  the  other 
witnesses. 

Ironside's  examination  comes  last  in  the  manuscript,  but 
it  is  more  convenient  to  insert  it  here : — 

"Ralph  Ironside,  minister  of  Winterbor,  sworn  and  examined. 
To  the  first  interrogatory,  he  saith  that  for  his  own  know- 
ledge he  will  answer,  but  for  that  he  hath  heard  and  knoweth 
no  author  to  justify  the  same,  he  is  persuaded  by  counsel 
that  he  is  in  danger  to  be  punished,  and  therefore  refuseth 
to  say  anything  upon  uncertain  report,  unless  he  could  bring 
in  his  author  in  particular. 

"The  relation  of  the  disputation  had  at  Sir  George 
Trenchard's  table,  between  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Mr  Carew 


170  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Raleigh,  and  Mr  Ironside,  hereafter  followeth,  written 
by  himself  and  delivered  to  the  commissioners  upon  his 
oath. 

"Wednesday,  sevennight  before  the  Assizes,  summer  last, 
I  came  to  Sir  George  Trenchard's  in  the  afternoon,  accom- 
panied with  a  fellow-minister  and  friend  of  mine,  Mr  Whittle, 
vicar  of  Forthington.  There  were  then  with  the  knight  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  Sir  Ralph  Horsey,  Mr  Carew  Raleigh,  Mr 
John  Fitzjames,  etc  Towards  the  end  of  supper,  some  loose 
speeches  of  Mr  Carew  Raleigh's  being  gently  reproved  by 
Sir  Ralph  Horsey  with  the  words  Colloquia  prava  corrumpunt 
bonos  mores,  Mr  Raleigh  demanded  of  me  what  danger  he 
might  incur  by  such  speeches,  whereunto  I  answered — 'The 
wages  of  sin  is  death' — and  he,  making  light  of  death  as 
being  common  to  all,  sinner  and  righteous,  I  inferred  further 
that  as  that  life  which  is  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus 
Christ  is  life  eternal,  so  that  death  which  is  properly  the 
wages  of  sin  is  death  eternal  both  of  the  body  and  of  the 
soul  also. 

" '  Soul,'  quoth  Mr  Carew  Raleigh,  '  what  is  that  ? '  Better 
it  were,  said  I,  that  we  would  be  careful  how  the  soul  might 
be  saved,  than  to  be  curious  in  finding  out  the  essence. 

"And  so,  keeping  silence,  Sir  Walter  requested  me  that 
for  their  instruction,  I  would  answer  to  the  question  that 
before  by  his  brother  was  proposed  unto  me.  '  I  have  been,' 
saith  he,  '  a  scholar  sometime  in  Oxford ;  I  gave  answer  under 
a  bachelor  of  arts,  and  had  talk  with  divers;  yet  hitherunto 
in  this  point  (to  wit,  what  the  reasonable  soul  of  man  is) 
have  I  not  by  any  been  resolved.  They  tell  me  it  is  primus 
motor,  the  first  mover  in  a  man,  etc.'  Unto  this,  after  I  had 
replied  that  howsoever  the  soul  were  fans  et  principium,  the 
fountain,  beginning  and  cause  of  motion  in  us,  yet  the  first 
mover  was  the  brain  or  heart,  I  was  again  urged  to  show 
my  opinion,  and  hearing  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  tell  of  his 
dispute  and  scholarship  some  time  in  Oxford,  I  cited  the 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  171 

general  definition  of  Anima  out  of  Aristotle  (De  Anima, 
cap.  2),  and  thence  a  subjecto  proprio,  deduced  the  special 
definition  of  the  soul  reasonable,  that  it  was  Actus  primus 
corporis  organici  agentis  humanam  vitam. 

"  It  was  misliked  of  Sir  Walter  as  obscure  and  intricate. 
And  I  withal,  that  though  it  could  not  unto  him,  as  being 
learned,  yet  it  might  seem  obscure  to  the  most  present,  and 
therefore  had  rather  say  with  divines  plainly,  that  the  reasonable 
soul  is  a  spiritual  and  immortal  substance,  breathed  into  man 
by  God,  whereby  he  lives  and  moves  and  understandeth,  and 
so  is  distinguished  from  other  creatures.  'Yea,  but  what  is 
that  spiritual  and  immortal  substance  breathed  into  man?' 
saith  Sir  Walter.  The  soul,  quoth  I.  '  Nay  then,'  said  he, 
'you  answer  not  like  a  scholar.'  Hereupon  I  endeavoured  to 
prove  that  it  was  scholarlike,  nay,  in  such  disputes  as  this, 
usual  and  necessary  to  run  in  circulum,  partly  because  definitio 
rei  was  primum  et  immediatum  principium,  and  seeing  prime 
non  est  prius,  a  man  must  of  necessity  come  backward,  and 
partly  because  definitio  and  definitum  be  natures  reciproc&,  the 
one  convertible,  answering  unto  the  question  made  upon  the 
other.  As  for  example,  if  one  asked  :  '  What  is  a  man  ? '  you 
will  say :  '  He  is  a  creature  reasonable  and  mortal ' ;  but  if 
you  ask  again  :  '  What  is  a  creature  reasonable  and  mortal  ? ' 
you  must  of  force  come  backward  and  answer :  '  It  is  a  man,' 
et  sic  de  cceteris.  '  But  we  have  principles  in  our  mathematics,' 
saith  Sir  Walter,  '  as  totum  est  majus  qua  libet  sua  parte ; 
and  ask  me  of  it,  and  I  can  show  it  in  the  table,  in  the 
window,  in  a  man,  the  whole  being  bigger  than  the  parts 
of  it.' 

"  I  replied  first  that  he  showed  quod  est,  not  quid  est,  that 
it  was,  but  not  what  it  was ;  secondly,  that  such  demonstra- 
tion was  against  the  nature  of  a  man's  soul,  being  a  spirit ; 
for  as  a  thing,  being  sensible,  was  subject  to  the  sense,  so 
man's  soul,  being  insensible,  was  to  be  discerned  by  the  spirit. 
Nothing  more  certain  in  the  world  than  that  there  is  a  God, 


172  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

yet  being  a  spirit,  to  subject  him  to  the  sense  otherwise  than 
perfectum,  it  is  impossible. 

"'Marry!'  quoth  Sir  Walter,  'these  two  be  like,  for 
neither  could  I  learn  hitherto  what  God  is.' 

"  Mr  Fitzjames  answering  that  Aristotle  should  say  he  was 
Ens  Entium,  I  answered,  that  whether  Aristotle,  dying  in  a 
fever,  should  cry :  Ens  Entium,  miserere  met ;  or  drowning 
himself  in  Euripum,  should  say :  Quia  ego  te  non  capio,  tu  me 
capies,  it  was  uncertain,  but  that  God  was  Ens  Entium,  a  thing 
of  things,  having  being  of  Himself,  and  giving  being  to  all 
creatures,  it  was  most  certain,  and  confirmed  by  God  Himself 
unto  Moses. 

" '  Yea,  but  what  is  this  Ens  Entium  ? '  saith  Sir  Walter. 

"  I  answered  it  is  God,  and  being  disliked  as  before,  Sir 
Walter  wished  that  grace  might  be  said,  '  for  that,'  quoth  he, 
is  better  than  his  disputation.'  Thus  supper  ended  and  grace 
said,  I  departed  to  Dorchester  with  my  fellow-minister,  and 
this  is  to  my  remembrance  the  substance  of  that  speech  with 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  I  had  at  Wolverton." 

"RALPH  IRONSIDE." 

Turning  to  the  remaining  depositions,  we  find  that  Francis 
Scarlett,  minister  of  Sherborne,  sworn  and  examined,  relates 
how  that  "a  little  before  Christmas,  one  Robert  Hyde,  of 
Sherborne,  shoemaker,  seeing  this  deponent  passing  by  his 
door,  called  him,  and  desired  to  have  some  conversation  with 
him,  and  after  some  speeches,  he  entered  into  these  speeches. 
"  Mr  Scarlett,  you  have  preached  unto  us  that  there  is  a  God, 
a  Heaven,  a  Hell,  and  a  resurrection  after  this  life,  and  that 
we  shall  give  an  account  of  our  works,  and  that  the  soul  is 
immortal;  but  now,  saith  he,  here  is  a  company  about  this 
town  that  say  that  Hell  is  no  other  but  poverty  and  penury 
in  this  world,  and  Heaven  is  no  other  but  to  be  rich  and 
enjoy  pleasures  ;  and  that  we  die  like  beasts,  and  when  we 
are  gone  there  is  no  more  remembrance  of  us,  and  such  like. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  173 

But  this  examinate  did  neither  then  demand  who  they  were, 
neither  did  he  deliver  any  particulars  unto  him,  and  further 
saith  that  it  is  generally  reported  in  Sherborne,  that  the 
said  Allen  and  his  men  are  atheists.  And  also  he  saith 
there  is  one  Lodge,  a  shoemaker  in  Sherborne,  accounted  an 
atheist." 

John  Deuch,  churchwarden  of  Weeke  Regis :  "  To  the 
sixth  interrogatory  this  deponent  saith  that  he  hath  heard 
one  Allen,  Lieutenant  of  Portland  Castle,  when  he  was  like 
to  die,  being  persuaded  to  make  himself  ready  to  God  for 
his  soul,  to  answer  that  he  would  carry  his  soul  to  the  top 
of  an  hill,  and  run  God,  run  devil,  fetch  it  that  will  have  it, 
or  to  that  effect.  But,  who  told  this  deponent  of  it,  he 
remembereth  not.  To  the  rest  of  the  interrogatory  he  can 
say  nothing." 

What  punishment  followed  on  these  examinations  does 
not  appear.  A  fine  was  probably  imposed  on  all  those  con- 
victed of  speaking  and  propagating  atheism ;  but  in  spite  of 
the  investigations  and  the  discredit  thrown  on  the  sect,  it 
did  not  by  any  means  die  out 

Essex  was  accounted  at  that  time  the  only  nobleman  who 
cared  for  religion.  His  manner  was  to  censure  all  men  as 
"cold  professors,  neuters,  or  atheists."  In  the  declaration  of 
W.  Masham  before  the  Lord  Treasurer  Buckhurst,  he  said 
that  Essex  told  the  people  when  he  incited  them  to  rise, 
that  he  acted  "  for  the  good  of  the  Queen,  city,  and  crown, 
which  certain  atheists,  meaning  Raleigh,  had  betrayed  to  the 
Infante  of  Spain."  At  his  execution  he  thanked  God  that  he 
was  never  atheist  nor  papist."1 

On  the  accession  of  James  I.  the  Catholics  presented  a 
petition  to  parliament,  begging  to  be  allowed  to  practise 
their  religion,  at  least  in  secret,  and  they  went  on  to  say 
that  there  were  "  four  classes  of  religionists  in  England : 
Protestants,  who  domineered  all  the  late  reign  ;  Puritans,  who 
1  Dom.  Eliz.,  February  1601,  vol.  278  ;  R.O. 


174  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

have  crept  up  amongst  them ;  atheists,  who  live  on  brawls ; 
and  Catholics."1 

The  stigma  of  atheist  clung  to  Raleigh  long  after  he  had 
ceased  to  deserve  it.  In  his  trial  for  high  treason  in  1603, 
it  considerably  damaged  his  cause,  and  gave  another  handle 
to  his  many  enemies.  The  king's  attorney,  in  addressing  him, 
exclaimed :  "  O  damnable  atheist ! "  and  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice  Coke,  in  his  address  to  the  prisoner  after  his  con- 
demnation, harangued  him  in  these  words  : — 

"Your  case  being  thus,  let  it  not  grieve  you  if  I  speak  a 
little  out  of  zeal  and  love  to  your  good.  You  have  been 
taxed  by  the  world  with  the  defence  of  the  most  heathenish 
and  blasphemous  opinions,  which  I  list  not  to  repeat,  because 
Christian  ears  cannot  endure  to  hear  them,  nor  the  authors 
and  maintainers  of  them  be  suffered  to  live  in  any  Christian 
commonwealth.  You  know  what  men  said  of  Harpool.2  You 
shall  do  well  before  you  go  out  of  the  world  to  give 
satisfaction  therein,  and  not  to  die  with  these  imputations 
upon  you.  Let  not  any  devil  persuade  you  (the  Harleian 
version  adds,  '  Hariot  or  any  such  doctor ')  to  think  there  is 
no  eternity  in  Heaven  ;  for  if  you  think  thus,  you  shall  find 
eternity  in  hell-fire."3 

Between  Raleigh's  sentence  and  its  execution  fifteen  years 
were  allowed  to  elapse,  during  which  time  the  prisoner  in 

1  Dom.  James  I.,  vol.  i.,  1603  ;  R.O. 

2  A  mistake  probably  for  Harriot.    The  name  is  variously  spelt.    Edwards, 
in  his  Life  of  'Raleigh ',  corrects  it  and  says,  "  Either  he  applied  to  the  illustrious 
mathematician  Thomas  Harriot,  the  epithet  '  devil,'  or  he  said  that  Harriot's 
opinions  were  devilish  "  (p.  436).     The  judge's  words  are  variously  reported, 
but  their  purport  is  always  the  same.    Stebbing,  in  his  monograph  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  says  that  Harriot  was  accused  by  zealots  of  atheism,  because  his 
cosmogony  was  not  orthodox,  and  that  his  ill-repute  for  free-thinking  was 
reflected  on  Raleigh,  who  hired  him  to  teach  mathematics  (probably  in  what 
Father   Parsons   tenned  his   school  of  atheism)  and  engaged  him  in  his 
colonising  projects.     Harriot  was  the  friend  whose  society  he  chiefly  craved 
when  he  was  in  the  Tower,  and  is  doubtless  the  "  Herryott "  of  the  examina- 
tions. 

3  Dom.  James  I.,  vol.  4,  f.  83. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  175 

the  Tower  occupied  himself  with  the  compilation  of  his 
famous  History  of  the  World,  and  with  chemical  experiments. 
And  as  if  all  should  be  exceptional  in  the  life  of  this 
remarkable  man,  he  was  allowed  an  interval  during  this 
period  in  which  to  flash  once  more  upon  the  world  in 
another  expedition  to  Guiana,  in  search  of  the  gold  mine 
which  he  had  declared  to  be  there.  After  the  ill-fated  voyage 
he  returned  into  durance  vile,  and  when  at  last  the  time  came 
for  the  axe  which  had  so  long  hung  over  him,  to  fall,  his 
words  showed  that  at  least  in  adversity  he  had  learned,  like 
the  great  Aii^  chieftain  Clovis,  to  burn  what  he  had 
adored,  and  to  adore  what  he  had  burned.  His  device,  Ubi 
dolor  ibi  amor  is  significant  of  the  change  that  suffering  had 
wrought  in  him.  His  last  words  on  the  scaffold  were  these : 
"  I  have  many  sins  for  which  to  beseech  God's  pardon.  Of  a 
long  time  my  course  was  a  course  of  vanity.  I  have  been  a 
seafearing  man,  a  soldier,  and  a  courtier,  and  in  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  least  of  these  there  is  enough  to  overthrow  a 
good  mind  and  a  good  man."  Presently  he  added,  "  I  die  in 
the  faith  professed  by  the  Church  of  England.  I  hope  to  be 
saved  and  to  have  my  sins  washed  away  by  the  Precious  Blood 
and  merits  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

Then,  says  his  biographer,1  he  asked  to  be  shown  the 
axe,  and  kissing  the  blade,  he  said :  "  This  gives  me  no  fear. 
It  is  a  sharp  and  fair  medicine  to  cure  me  of  all  my 
disease." 

After  Raleigh's  death,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
writing  to  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  ambassador  of  Great  Britain 
with  the  Great  Mogul,  loth  February  1618,  said:  "Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  amongst  us  did  question  God's  being  and  omnipotence, 
which  that  just  judge  made  good  upon  himself  in  over- 
tumbling  his  estate,  but  last  of  all  in  bringing  him  to  an 
execution  by  law,  where  he  died  a  religious  and  Christian 

1  Edwards,  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  \.  704. 


176  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

death,  God  testifying  his  power  in  this,  that  he  raised  up  of  a 
stone  a  child  unto  Abraham." 

His  doom  had  been  from  the  first  a  foregone  conclusion. 
James  having  been  fatally  prejudiced  against  him  before  that 
royal  pedant  ever  set  foot  in  England,  to  which  fact  the 
secret  correspondence  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil  with  James  VI.  of 
Scotland  amply  testifies. 

But  curiously  enough  Sir  Walter's  brother  Carew,  although 
more  deeply  dyed  in  atheism,  never  ceased  to  be  a  persona  grata 
with  the  government  He  was  knighted  in  1601,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  visit  to  England  of  the  French  Marshal  de  Biron.1  He 
held  several  honourable  and  lucrative  public  offices  under  James 
I.,  and  was  Lieutenant  of  the  Isle  of  Portland  in  1608.  During 
his  brother's  long  imprisonment  in  the  Tower,  Sir  Carew  Raleigh 
was  living  in  prosperity  at  Dounton.2 

Atheists  did  not  as  a  sect  entirely  disappear  from  England 
after  the  execution  of  their  scapegoat,  but  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  further  molested  for  their  opinions.  The  persecution 
of  the  Catholics  was  at  its  height,  and  at  no  time  did  professed 
atheism  provoke  the  fierce  hatred  that  Catholicism  inspired. 
For  obvious  reasons  many  Catholics  at  this  period  were  but 
indifferently  instructed  in  their  religion.  Some  to  escape  at- 
tendance at  the  English  Church  service  unlawfully  feigned 
infidelity.  One  man  having  written  a  seditious  book,  called 
Balaam's  Ass,  against  the  king,  for  which  he  was  condemned  to 
death,  was  accused  at  his  execution  of  having  professed  atheism. 
He  denied  being  an  infidel,  expressed  contrition  for  his  "  saucy 
meddling  in  the  king's  matter,"  and  declared  himself  a  Catholic.3 

The  Bishop  of  Exeter  reported  that  "  John  Lugge,  organist, 
retains  none  of  his  popish  tendencies,  though  his  religion  is  as 
the  market  goes,"  and  he  added  that  there  were  very  few 
papists  in  his  diocese,  but  an  infinity  of  sectaries  and  atheists. 

1  Stebbing,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  p.  157. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  248. 

3  Dom.  James  I.,  vol.  109,  May  1619  ;  R.O. 


GIORDANO  BRUNO  IN  ENGLAND  \W 

Many  of  these  latter  may  have  been  secret  Catholics,  either 
extremely  ignorant,  or  too  timid  to  suffer  for  their  faith.  A  book 
published  in  1602,  entitled  The  Unmasking  of  the  Politique 
Atheist  is  a  violent  attack  upon  Catholicism.  Another,  called  A 
Perfect  Cure  for  Atheists,  Papists,  Arminians,  etc.,  published  in 
1649,  is  of  a  like  nature.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  Aristotle  to 
atheism,  but  no  sooner  did  the  votaries  of  the  new  learning  dis- 
card a  system  of  philosophy  which,  however  exaggerated  by 
pedants,  was  still  a  guarantee  of  exact  reasoning,  than  their 
disciples  and  followers  fell  a  prey  to  the  vagaries  of  their  own 
bewildered  intellects. 

It  was  the  reductio  ad  absurdum  of  the  reformed  religion, 
when  weak-kneed  Catholics  sheltered  themselves  from  its  pains 
and  penalties  under  the  fairly  secure  roof-tree  of  atheism. 


\\ 


VII 
CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT 

"  A  FINE  rare  show  arrives  from  Rome,  and  it  is  all  a  present 
for  the  Queen,  and  the  news  of  it  reaches  London,  and  the 
King  is  impatient  to  see  it ;  and  the  Queen  is  lying  in,  and 
Mr  Panzani  brings  all  the  fine  things  to  the  Queen's  bed- 
chamber ;  and  all  the  ladies  of  quality  crowd  in  to  see  them  ; 
and  the  King  with  all  his  nobles  hastens  to  the  Queen's 
palace  ;  and  the  boxes  are  opened,  and  the  pieces  are  viewed 
one  by  one;  and  Mr  Conn  comes  in  (though  still  without  a 
red  hat)  to  satisfy  the  Queen's  curiosity,  and  Mr  Conn  brings 
more  fine  pictures  .  .  .  and  sees  the  King,  and  the  Queen 
of  France ;  and  Mr  Panzani  takes  leave  of  the  Queen  of 
England  (for  how  could  he  omit  it?)  and  the  Queen  begs 
a  red  hat  for  Mr  Conn,  and  Mr  Conn  must  first  do  some 
signal  service  to  the  Church;  and  the  King  talks  about  Mr 
Conn's  red  hat ;  and  the  Queen  gives  Mr  Panzani  a  fine 
diamond  ring ;  and  Mr  Panzani  takes  leave  of  all  the  ministers  ; 
and  he  pays  his  respects  to  all  the  ladies  of  the  court ;  and 
the  ladies  send  their  compliments  to  the  Pope,  and  they  all 
beg  Mr  Panzani's  blessing.  It  was  the  end  of  the  year 
1636." 

This  Sevign6-like  description  was  written  in  1794,  by 
the  Rev.  Charles  Plowden,  in  his  "  Remarks  on  a  Book  entitled 
Memoirs  of  Gregorio  Panzani"  Panzani,  a  priest  of  the  Roman 

178 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT       179 

Oratory,  had  been  about  two  years  in  England,  with  a  secret 
mission  to  report  to  Cardinal  Barberini,  nephew  of  Pope 
Urban  VIII.,  on  the  condition  of  the  Catholics,  the  condition 
of  the  court,  and  on  the  prospects  regarding  an  ultimate 
reunion  of  the  Anglican  Church  with  Rome.  He  was  to 
pave  the  way  for  an  openly  accredited  envoy  to  the  queen, 
was  to  conciliate  the  ministers,  disarm  the  Puritans,  and  to 
do  what  he  could  for  the  Catholics,  who  were  still  smarting 
severely  under  the  penal  laws.  Executions,  it  is  true,  had 
become  less  frequent,  but  the  royal  coffers  were  still  replenished 
with  the  fines  imposed  on  Catholics  for  their  pertinacity  in 
assembling  to  hear  Mass  by  stealth.  If  a  priest  were  caught, 
he  was  thrown  into  prison,  tried,  and  punished  with  death. 
In  dealing  with  the  Catholic  laity,  Charles  I.  was  never  in 
favour  of  enforcing  the  extreme  rigour  of  the  law,  but  he 
was  so  often  in  want  of  money  that  he  found  it  useful  to  be 
very  severe  in  the  matter  of  fines. 

Panzani's  mission  to  England  falls  about  midway  between 
the  domestic  storms  which  had  troubled  the  early  days  of 
the  royal  marriage,  and  the  Revolution  which  finally  cost 
the  most  shifty  of  monarchs  his  throne  and  his  life.  Henrietta 
Maria  had  ceased  to  resent  the  expulsion  of  her  French 
favourites,  had  consented  at  last  to  learn  English  and  to 
tolerate  the  English  people.  She  had  thrown  herself  heart 
and  soul  into  her  husband's  interests,  and  since  the  death 
of  Buckingham  was  in  possession  of  his  entire  confidence.  If, 
later  on,  any  cloud  arose  over  their  mutual  relationship,  it 
was  the  king's  half  expressed  suspicion  that  she  thought  little 
of  his  powers  of  governing,  and  that  however  much  she 
loved  her  husband,  she  did  not  admire  his  policy  or  trust 
his  royal  word  as  implicitly  as  he  could  wish.  This  is 
evident  from  one  or  two  affectionate  but  querulous  letters 
which  he  wrote  to  her  when  he  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Parliamentarians. 

Of  the   court,   as   well   as   of  the  private  life  of  the  king 


180  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  queen,  Panzani  could  report  but  favourably.  The  Catholics 
were  to  be  helped  by  the  queen's  influence,  and  as  to  reunion 
with  Rome,  he  thought  he  had  some  reason  to  be  sanguine. 
A  letter  from  Panzani  to  Cardinal  Barberini,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  translation,  is  to  be  found  among  the  Stevenson 
and  Bliss  transcripts  of  Vatican  documents  in  the  Record 
Office.  It  is  dated  June  10/25,  1635  : — 

"According  to  your  Eminence's  instructions,  I  have  had  a 
long  talk  with  Father  Philip  (an  English  Capuchin  and  the 
Queen's  confessor),  regarding  the  reconciliation  of  this  kingdom 
with  Rome,  and  the  means  of  bringing  it  about.  He  told  me 
that  there  were  unmistakeable  signs  of  a  desire  for  such  a 
reconciliation,  not  only  in  the  King,  but  among  the  clergy  and 
laity  as  well,  and  the  question  is  mooted  almost  daily.  It  is 
well,  however,  to  be  slow  in  drawing  inferences,  because  those 
who  are  most  in  favour  of  a  reunion  do  not  venture  to  manifest 
their  desire,  but  rather  dissemble  it  under  the  appearance  of 
a  contrary  way  of  thinking,  on  account  of  the  severity  of  the 
law  against  Catholics.  This  same  fear  possesses  the  King  also, 
he  being  of  a  timid  nature ;  hence  the  great  misfortune  of  not 
being  able  to  count  on  his  prudence  and  judgment,  seeing  how 
changeable  and  uncertain  he  and  his  advisers  are.  Moreover, 
if  by  ill-luck  the  present  rumours  of  war  oblige  the  King  to 
arm  himself,  we  may  expect  some  persecution  of  the  Catholics, 
for  money  being  required,  before  he  can  go  to  war,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  assemble  Parliament,  and  the  Lower  House, 
composed  mainly  of  Puritans,  will  grant  no  supplies  unless  the 
King  makes  some  show  of  cruelty  towards  Catholics.  For 
the  same  reason  all  the  bishops  and  ministers  of  moderate 
views,  and  favourable  to  a  reunion,  begin  to  be  harsh  and 
intolerant  when  the  time  approaches  for  the  meeting  of 
Parliament,  and  do  nothing  but  inveigh  against  the  Pope  in 
their  sermons,  solely  from  fear  of  losing  their  lives  or  their 
places.  Father  Philip  says  that  there  is  no  need  to  be  alarmed 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT       181 

at  the  difficulties  we  may  encounter ;  but  that  we  should  be 
determined  to  overcome  them,  and  that  after  God,  the  envoys 
may  greatly  facilitate  the  business,  if  they  study  with  all  their 
might  how  to  make  themselves  agreeable  to  the  King  and 
the  State. 

"  He  who  comes  here  should  be  all  things  to  all  men,  in 
order  to  win  all,  and  should  take  everything  he  can  in  good 
part,  and  find  excuses  for  the  King  and  his  officers,  if  some- 
times they  do  not  grant  the  Catholics  all  the  favours  they  ask. 
He  should  throw  the  blame  on  the  poursuivants  and  the 
informers,  and  should  adroitly  petition  for  redress.  He  should 
keep  Windebank  (Secretary  of  State),  considered  by  the  Puritans 
to  be  '  Popishly  affected,'  and  others,  well  informed  of  all  that 
passes  in  Rome,  and  should  manage  to  keep  up  communication 
with  the  papal  legates,  in  order  to  have  news,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  make  himself  agreeable  to  them,  for  they  like  above 
all  things  to  receive  marks  of  confidence.  He  must  be  careful, 
however,  in  publishing  the  facts  he  thus  learns,  to  give  no 
offence  to  any  of  the  crowned  heads,  nor  bring  our  religion 
into  bad  odour. 

"  The  envoy  should  distribute  some  gifts,  and  in  fine,  use 
every  means  to  make  himself  beloved.  He  ought  to  be  about 
thirty-five  years  old,  and  to  have  attained  a  certain  solidity 
rarely  met  with  before  that  age.  He  should  also  be  noble 
and  rich,  and  of  a  good  presence,  furnished  with  all  qualities 
proper  to  a  gentleman ;  and,  above  all,  his  life  should  be 
exemplary,  without  affectation  or  hypocrisy.  .  .  .  On  the 
arrival  of  such  an  agent  in  London,  speaking  French  well, 
which  language  is  understood  by  the  whole  court,  he  should 
first  of  all  contrive  to  please  the  Queen,  who,  being  young, 
delights  in  perfumes  and  fine  clothes,  and  likes  people  to  be 
lively  and  merry.  His  next  object  should  be  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  court  ladies  and  others,  as  much  is  done  here 
by  the  influence  of  women  ;  but  he  should  on  no  account  allow 
familiarity  with  the  Queen  and  other  ladies  to  degenerate  into 


182  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

lightness  or  worse,  for  that  would  involve  the  ruin  of 
the  whole  undertaking.  It  is  customary  to  say  here,  '  if 
a  man's  life  is  good,  his  religion  must  be  a  good  one ' ;  but 
the  English  are  shocked  at  every  little  thing.  The  King 
is  extremely  modest,  and  the  Queen  such,  that  Father 
Philip  told  me  her  conscience  has  never  lost  its  baptismal 
innocence. 

"  Having  gained  the  good  opinion  of  the  Queen  and  her 
ladies,  the  agent  may  aspire  to  greater  things.  The  court  is 
very  accessible  to  bribes ;  it  is  therefore  quite  possible  to 
purchase  its  goodwill ;  and  to  this  end  it  will  be  well  to  send 
the  Queen  jewels  of  some  value,  ostensibly  as  presents  to  her, 
but  in  reality  that  she  may  distribute  them  among  those 
ministers  from  whom  the  greatest  help  may  be  expected.  The 
envoy  should  not  make  very  valuable  presents  himself,  but 
only  through  the  Queen,  lest  he  be  suspected  of  ulterior  views, 
or  cause  danger  to  the  recipients  of  them. 

"  When  the  ministers  have  been  won  over,  the  Queen, 
instructed  by  the  envoy  how  great  a  reputation  she  may 
acquire  by  the  conversion  of  this  kingdom,  must  try  to  per- 
suade the  King  to  abolish  poursuivants  and  informers.  This 
he  may  not  be  able  to  effect  immediately,  being  powerless  to 
repeal  parliamentary  laws,  but  he  may  be  able  to  procure  that 
the  poursuivants  and  informers  shall  do  nothing  without  an 
express  and  written  order  from  the  Privy  Council,  and  only 
then  in  a  manner  conformable  to  the  instructions  of  the  same. 
In  this  way,  Catholics  would  have  nothing  more  to  fear, 
because  as  soon  as  the  Council  resolved  to  proceed  against 
any  individual,  the  Queen  would  bring  her  influence  to  bear 
on  any  one  of  its  members  already  on  her  side,  and  the 
threatened  Catholic  would  be  helped,  either  to  fly  or  to  elude 
the  officials. 

"  This  point  gained,  an  almost  tacit  liberty  of  conscience 
would  follow ;  the  Catholics  would  take  courage,  and  the 
moderate  Protestants  would  no  longer  fear  to  declare  them- 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT       183 

selves  openly  their  protectors.  Then  would  be  the  time  to 
treat  with  the  King,  through  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
for  the  concession  of  religious  liberty,  as  far  as  possible.  This 
once  conceded,  Father  Philip  believes  that  in  less  than  three 
years  the  whole  country  would  become  Catholic.  Parliament 
might  then  safely  be  assembled  to  repeal  the  laws  against 
Catholics,  and  re-union  with  the  Holy  See  would  soon 
follow. 

"  But  how  to  obtain  liberty  of  conscience  it  is  not  easy  to 
say  at  present ;  neither  does  it  yet  concern  us,  not  having 
arrived  so  far. 

"  This  is  all  that  Father  Philip  said,  and  whatever  else  he 
may  tell  me  I  will  write  to  your  Eminence,  having  nothing 
further  to  add  now,  except  that  the  envoy  should  be  guided 
in  all  things  by  Father  Philip,  who  has  a  great  reputation  for 
prudence,  and  is  respected  by  the  whole  court." 

Nevertheless,  Father  Philip's  ingenious  structure  soon 
proved  to  be  only  a  house  of  cards.  He  understood  the 
Queen,  and  was  not  far  wrong  in  his  estimation  of  Charles, 
but  he  was  mistaken  in  thinking  the  king's  party  to  be 
in  earnest  about  Catholicism,  and  was  as  wide  of  the 
mark  in  grasping  the  archbishop's  bent  as  any  Puritan  in  the 
realm. 

Laud  was  in  some  respects  wiser  than  Buckingham  had 
been ;  he  was  content  to  govern  through  the  King,  throwing 
what  power  he  could  into  the  hands  of  the  prelates.  All  the 
great  offices  of  State  were  filled  by  churchmen.  Far  from 
contemplating  any  submission  to  the  Pope,  he  aimed  at  being 
a  species  of  independent  Pope  on  his  own  account.  Both  he 
and  Juxon,  the  Lord  Treasurer,  refused  to  see  Panzani. 

Laud's  greatest  passion  was  ambition,  if  anything  in  a  nature 
so  contracted  could  be  said  to  assume  the  proportions  of  a  full- 
blown passion.  He  had  a  marvellous  capacity  for  dealing  with 
small  things,  and  all  that  came  under  his  ken  he  studied  to 


184  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

the  minutest  detail.  He  was  a  believer  in  dreams,  and 
owned  to  being  greatly  troubled  by  them.  "  Thursday, 
I  came  to  London,"  he  once  wrote  in  his  diary ;  "  the  night 
following,  I  dreamed  that  I  was  reconciled  to  the  Church  of 
Rome.  This  troubled  me  much,  and  I  wondered  exceedingly 
how  it  should  happen.  Now  was  I  aggrieved  with  myself  (not 
only  by  reason  of  the  errors  of  that  Church,  but  also)  upon 
account  of  the  scandal  which  from  that  my  fall  would  be  cast 
upon  many  eminent  and  learned  men  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Going  with  this  resolution,  a  certain  priest  met  me,  and 
would  have  stopped  me.  But  moved  with  indignation 
I  went  on  my  way.  And  while  I  wearied  myself  with 
these  troublesome  thoughts  I  awoke.  Herein  I  felt  such 
strong  impressions  that  I  could  scarce  believe  it  to  be  a 
dream." 

To  a  becoming  gravity  the  archbishop  failed  to  unite  a 
saving  sense  of  humour.  His  temper  was  hasty,  but  also 
vindictive,  and  he  never  forgot  an  injury,  to  which  fact  the 
notorious  Puritan,  William  Prynne,  was  well  able  to  testify. 
Laud  first  incurred  the  enmity  of  this  man  and  his  friends  by 
his  attempts  to  introduce  some  measure  of  ceremonial  into 
the  churches  under  him.  When  he  began  his  reform,  the 
places  of  public  worship  were  nothing  but  buildings  where 
discourses  and  diatribes  against  Popery  were  to  be  heard  in 
luxuriously  upholstered  seats.  "  There  wants  nothing  but 
beds  to  hear  the  Word  of  God  on,"  said  Bishop  Corbet.  The 
notion  of  a  priesthood  had  died  out  of  people's  minds.  They 
looked  upon  their  clergy  as  preachers  merely — the  cure  of 
souls  was  an  obsolete  term. 

Archbishop  Grindal  had  caused  the  altars  to  be  destroyed, 
and  the  places  where  they  had  stood  whitewashed,  so  that 
no  trace  of  them  might  remain.1  Laud  had  the  communion 

1  Articles  to  be  inquired  of  in  the  Archdiocese  of  York — "  Whether  in 
your  churches  and  chapels,  all  altars  be  utterly  taken  down  and  clean  removed 
even  unto  the  foundation  ;  and  the  place  where  they  stood  paved,  and  the 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT       185 

tables  removed  from  the  middle  of  the  churches  into  the  place 
formerly  occupied  by  the  altar,  railed  in,  and  distinguished  by 
altar-like  adornments.  Finally,  it  became  customary  to 
designate  them  by  the  ancient  name  of  altar,  while  the 
officiating  minister  resumed  the  name  of  priest.  The 
people,  now  become  thoroughly  Protestantised,  murmured, 
and  thought  they  saw  indications  of  a  return  to  Rome.1 
Some  protested  that  all  this  superabundant  care  for  externals 
was  eating  the  life  out  of  Protestantism ;  the  bugbear  of 
others  was  the  appeal,  now  becoming  customary,  to  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church,  rather  than  to  the  Protestant  divines 
of  the  continent.2  St  Augustine  was  suspect,  Calvin  they 
knew  to  be  orthodox. 

The  sequel  proved  that  a  very  real  source  of  danger  lay 
among  Laud's  own  familiar  friends.  The  archbishop  could 
not  restrain  the  lengths  to  which  they  would  go,  in  following 
up  the  track  which  he  himself  had  laid  open.  Burning 
questions  were  discussed  in  the  pulpits.  Thus,  Panzani,  in 
a  letter  to  Cardinal  Barberini,  dated  March  13/23,  1636, 
says : — 

"  Last  Sunday,  one  of  the  bishops  preached  before  the  King, 
on  the  necessity  of  Sacramental  Confession,  saying  that  the 
Church  has  never  been  in  a  good  state  wherever  it  was 
not  practised." 

Panzani,  continuing,  went  on  to  say  that  reconciliation  with 
Rome  was  an  event  anticipated  by  all,  and  that  many  people 
thought  the  clergy  refrained  from  marrying,  in  order  that 
they  might  still  hold  their  parishes  in  case  of  reunion.  "  This," 
he  adds,  "  is  what  I  hear,  but  whether  it  is  true  or  not,  God 
only  knows,  who  sees  the  hearts  of  men." 


wall  whereunto  they  joined  whited  over,  and  made  uniform  with  the  rest, 
so  as  no  breach  or  rupture  appear."  In  case  any  altars  remained,  the 
churchwardens  were  "  to  remove  them  and  certify." 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  1635-36;  Dom.  Charles  I. 

?  Gardiner,  Fall  of  the  Monarchy  of  Charles  ^ 


186  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

In  the  same  letter  he  mentioned  another  sermon,  which 
had  lately  been  preached  before  the  king  and  the  court 
"touching  confession,  and  the  preacher  said  that  its  origin 
could  be  traced  to  the  Gospel  better  than  that  of  any  other 
doctrine;  wherefore  he  exhorted  his  hearers  to  practise  it. 
All  the  court  are  now  talking  of  this  sermon,"  he  continued, 
"and  the  King  himself  at  supper  afterwards  spoke  highly  of 
the  practise  of  confession,  saying  that  one  ought  to  mention 
all  the  circumstances  of  a  sin.  Someone  who  was  present 
said  he  could  not  think  it  right  to  take  away  another  person's 
reputation  by  naming  him,  if  he  were  concerned  in  a  sin.  The 
King  at  once  replied  that  it  was  not  permitted  to  name 
accomplices,  and  turning  to  Father  Philip,  who  is  always 
present  at  supper,  he  asked  him  if  he  were  not  right.  Father 
Philip  answered  that  he  was.  The  Earl  of  Carlisle,  a  Puritan, 
who  was  also  there,  assured  Father  Philip  that  he  agreed 
with  us  in  everything,  except  that  the  Pope  had  power  to 
depose  kings.  '  We  do  not  believe  that  either,'  replied  Father 
Philip,  '  we  only  say  that  the  Pope  may  do  it  in  extraordinary 
cases,  such  as  heresy  for  instance.'  The  Earl  of  Carlisle  replied  : 
'  You  are  not  all  of  the  same  opinion,  because  I  know  that  some 
among  you  maintain  that  he  has.' 

"  Here  the  subject  dropped.  A  lady  conversing  with 
Father  Philip  on  the  same  occasion  said  that  if  confession 
were  to  be  practised,  Protestant  ministers  ought  to  be  like 
ours.  '  Why  ? '  asked  Father  Philip.  '  Because,'  answered 
the  lady,  '  if  they  have  wives,  no  one  will  confess  to  them  for 
fear  of  their  repeating  to  their  wives,  straight  off,  the  sins 
confided  to  them.'" 

In  a  former  letter,  Panzani  had  written :  "  A  preacher 
said  lately  that  the  Pope  was  the  true  Vicar  of  Christ, 
successor  of  St  Peter,  and  Chief  Patriarch,  and  he  proceeded  to 
enlarge  on  Papal  jurisdiction,  when  a  tumult  arose  among  the 
congregation,  and  afterwards  the  preacher  was  censured." 

And  again,  "  On  the  6rst  day,  and  also  the  first;  Sunday  in 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT       187 

Lent,  the  Bishop  of  London,  preaching  before  the  King,  took 
for  his  subject  the  preparation  for  our  Lord's  Passion,  and 
said  that  it  was  not  only  needful  to  mortify  the  spirit,  but 
also  the  flesh,  teaching  which  is  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  greater  number  of  Protestants." 

Thus,  the  Puritans  had  some  ground  for  murmuring,  and 
it  was  not  altogether  unnatural,  that  they  and  the  Catholics 
also  should  imagine  that  the  Church  of  England  had  set  its 
face  Romewards.  The  above  were  not  doctrines  such  as 
Cranmer,  Ridley,  Latimer,  and  Hooper  would  have  owned, 
nor  would  they  recognise  the  churches  in  which  such  language 
was  held. 

Greater  still  would  have  been  the  wrath  of  such  men  as 
Prynne,  Bastwick,  and  Burton,  had  they  known  that  the 
Bishop  of  Gloucester  had  applied  to  Panzani  for  permission  to 
have  a  Catholic  priest  in  his  house  secretly,  to  say  Mass  daily 
for  him ;  and  that  he  was  strongly  in  favour  of  re-union. 

William  Prynne,  barrister-at-law  by  profession,  by  reputa- 
tion a  vituperative  pamphleteer,  was  always  ready  to  denounce, 
cavil,  and  rail.  The  list  of  his  philippics  fills  nearly  a  whole 
folio  volume  of  the  British  Museum  Library  Catalogue.  He 
had  what  Wharton,  more  graphically  than  politely,  describes  as 
"  the  eternal  itch  of  scribbling."  The  subject  of  Sabbath-breaking 
to  which  he  attributed  the  fresh  outbreak  of  the  plague  in  1636, 
was  to  him  as  a  red  rag  to  a  bull.  Encouraged  by  his  example 
a  whole  mass  of  literature  appeared  on  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  —  not  the  modern  Sunday  which  was  decried 
as  an  invention  of  Rome,  but  of  the  old  Jewish  Sabbath, 
considered  by  the  Puritans  to  have  a  far  better  claim  to  be 
observed. 

Prynne  had  no  perception  of  the  relative  value  of  things. 
Sabbath-breaking,  predestination,  and  the  supreme  wickedness 
of  curls,  or  love-locks  as  they  were  then  called,  were  of 
equal  importance  in  his  mind.  Laud's  innovations  put  him 
into  a  state  of  frenzy,  and  he  declared  that  the  Church  of 


188  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

England  was  now  "  as  full  of  ceremonies  "  as  a  dog  was  "  full  of 
fleas." 

Giles  Widdowes,  entering  the  lists  for  the  archbishop,  argued 
that  "  men  should  take  off  their  hats  on  entering  a  church, 
because  it  was  the  place  of  God's  presence,  the  chiefest  place  of 
his  honour  amongst  us,  where  His  ambassadors  deliver  His 
embassage,  where  His  priests  sacrifice  their  own  and  the  militant 
Church's  prayers,  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  reconcile  us  to 
God,  offended  with  our  daily  sins."  "  Ergo,"  answered  Prynne, 
"  the  priests  of  the  Church  of  England  are  sacrificing  priests, 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  a  propitiatory  sacrifice,  sacrificed  by 
those  priests  for  men's  daily  sins  !  " 

Widdowes  also  wrote  in  defence  of  the  practice  of  bowing  at 
the  name  of  Jesus ;  and  considering  doubtless  that  men  should 
be  fought  with  their  own  weapons,  took  a  leaf  out  of  Prynne's 
book  and  belaboured  soundly  "  the  lawless,  kneeless,  schismatical 
Puritan." 

Prynne  retorted  promptly,  entitling  his  reply,  "  Lame  Giles 
his  Haltings."  Soon  afterwards,  being  cited  to  appear  and 
defend  himself  for  having  used  intemperate  language  in  a  book 
against  plays  and  players,  he  was  sentenced  to  have  his  ears 
shorn  off.  As  many  copies  of  his  book  as  were  forthcoming 
were  burned  by  his  side  as  he  sat  in  the  pillory.  He  was  de- 
graded and  prevented  from  pleading  as  a  lawyer.  He  only 
wrote  the  more.  The  titles  of  his  book  are  ingenious,  and  would 
ensure  their  sale  at  any  time.  As  for  their  contents,  odious  as 
was  the  language  he  used,  Prynne  always  hit  the  nail  he  in- 
tended, and  was  very  good  at  a  blow.  In  Rome's  Masterpiece, 
he  declared  that  the  archbishop  was  a  "  middle-man,  between 
an  absolute  Papist  and  a  real  Protestant,  who  will  far  sooner 
hug  a  Popish  priest  in  his  bosom  than  take  a  Puritan  by  the 
little  finger." 

Prynne's  fellow  pamphleteers,  Bastwick  and  Burton,  were  not 
far  behind  him  in  the  violence  of  their  invectives,  but  the  lawyer 
rqust  be  admitted  to  bear  the  palm  for  sharp  sayings. 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT      189 

In  John  Bastwick's  Litany,  instead  of  "  from  plague,  pes- 
tilence, and  famine,"  we  have  "  from  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons, 
good  Lord,  deliver  us." 

In  1637,  Laud  summoned  the  three  men  before  the  Star 
Chamber,  to  answer  to  a  charge  of  libel.  Bastwick's  crime  was 
for  writing  against  the  "  Pope  of  Canterbury."  They  were  all 
three  found  guilty,  fined  .£5000  each,  condemned  to  lose  their 
ears,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  life,  an  astoundingly  heavy 
sentence.  But  in  addition  Prynne  was  to  be  branded  on  both 
cheeks  with  the  letters  S  L  for  slanderous  libeller.  Chief  Justice 
Finch  ordered  the  scars  left  by  his  former  punishment  to  be  laid 
bare.  "  I  had  thought,"  said  he,  "  that  Mr  Prynne  had  no  ears 
but  methinks  he  hath  ears."  Three  years  before,  the  executioner 
had  only  clipped  off  the  outer  rims ;  but  now  Prynne  was  to 
suffer  the  full  rigour  of  the  sentence.  A  contemporary  thus 
describes  the  process: 

"  Having  burnt  one  cheek  with  a  letter  the  wrong  way,  the 
hangman  burnt  that  again,  and  presently  a  surgeon  clapped  on 
a  plaster  to  take  out  the  fire.  The  hangman  hewed  off  Prynne's 
ears  very  scurvily,  which  put  him  to  much  pain,  and  after,  he 
stood  long  in  the  pillory  before  his  head  could  be  got  out,  but 
that  was  a  chance." 1 

He  seems  to  have  borne  this  martyrdom  with  great  coolness, 
for  on  his  way  back  to  prison,  he  composed  a  Latin  distich  on 
the  letters  S  L,  which  he  interpreted  "  Stigmata  Laudis  " — the 
scars  of  Laud. 

Although  the  sentence  had  been  imprisonment  for  life, 
Prynne  and  Burton  entered  London  in  triumph  three  years  later ; 
and  if  revenge  is  sweet,  Prynne  was  yet  to  swim  in  a  sea  of 
sweetness.  When  by  a  strange  irony  of  fate  he  was  hired  to 
search  the  imprisoned  archbishop  for  papers,  he  carried  off 
Laud's  diary. 

If  Panzani  could  have  seen  this  strange  record  of  the  arch- 
bishop's dreams,  desires,  and  impressions,  he  would  doubtless 
1  Documents  relating  to  Prynne,  Camden  Papers. 


190  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

have  ceased  to  look  upon  Laud  as  an  important  factor  in  his 
scheme  of  the  corporate  re-union  of  the  nation  with  Rome. 

Under  date  I4th  August  1634,  Prynne  read  and  gloated  over 
those  remarkable  entries : — 

"That  very  morning  at  Greenwich  there  came  one  to  me 
seriously,  and  that  avowed  ability  to  perform  it,  and  offered  me 
to  be  a  cardinal,"  and  two  days  later  : — 

"  I  had  a  serious  offer  made  me  to  be  a  cardinal.  I  was  then 
from  court,  but  so  soon  as  I  came  hither  (2ist  August)  I  ac- 
quainted His  Majesty  with  it.  But  my  answer  again  was  that 
somewhat  dwelt  within  me,  which  would  not  suffer  that,  till 
Rome  were  other  than  it  is." 

No  doubt,  in  declining  the  cardinalate,  if  indeed  the  offer  were 
not  a  figment  of  his  own  brain,  Laud  would  have  been  diplo- 
matic enough  not  to  allow  his  reasons  to  transpire,  and  probably 
the  Pope  never  knew  them.  The  importance  of  the  statement 
lies  for  posterity  entirely  in  the  anti- Roman  tendency  which  he 
expressed  in  his  diary.  For  the  archbishop  himself,  to  have 
committed  the  matter  to  writing,  whether  it  were  true  or  im- 
aginary, proved  fatal,  the  entries  serving  his  enemies  as  the  text 
of  one  of  the  chief  indictments  against  him,  when  he  was  brought 
to  trial.  Nothing  he  could  plead  made  any  impression  on  the 
minds  of  his  accusers.  His  refusal  of  the  purple  ought  to  have 
vindicated  him  ;  but  they  maintained  that  for  the  offer  to  have 
been  made  to  him  at  all,  he  must  have  been  friends  with  the 
Pope.  Moreover,  had  he  not  objected  to  the  term  "  Idol  of 
Rome  "  ?  and  had  he  not  expressed  doubt  if  not  denial  of  the 
Pope's  being  anti-Christ?  These  things  were  more  than 
enough  for  fanatics  whose  piety  consisted  chiefly  in  denun- 
ciations and  impolite  epithets.  It  was  as  clear  as  daylight 
to  their  minds  that  the  archbishop  had  "a  damnable  plot 
to  reconcile  the  Church  of  England  with  the  Church  of 
Rome." 

Presumably,  Mr  Prynne's  ears  were  for  something  in  the 
overwhelming  potency  of  the  argument.  But  another  and 

\ 


CHAfcLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT      191 

scarcely  less  important  article  of  the  indictment  related  to  some 
pictures  of  the  Life  and  Passion  of  our  Lord,  which  Laud  had 
once  had  bound  up  in  Bibles.  He  had  been  so  greatly  pleased 
with  the  result  that  he  ordered  them  to  be  called  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury's  Bibles.  The  Puritans  thought  they 
saw  in  this  strong  proof  of  his  "  popish  and  idolatrous  affection," 
their  ignorance  of  human  nature  actually  leading  them  to 
imagine  that  on  seeing  an  image  or  picture  of  a  divine  person 
men  would  be  forthwith  moved  to  prostrate  themselves  in 
adoration  of  the  material  of  which  it  was  composed,  no  other 
explanation  of  the  word  "  idolatrous "  being  possible  in  this 
connection. 

But  we  must  now  return  to  the  year  1636,  when  popular 
passion  ran  so  high  that  the  opinion  of  an  onlooker  is  our  only 
means  of  arriving  at  a  fairly  accurate  appreciation  of  events. 
Panzani,  who  although  wrong  in  his  inferences  was  correct  as 
to  facts,  describes  the  archbishop  and  his  works  with  great 
moderation.  In  his  letters  to  Cardinal  Barberini,  he  tells  him 
that  Laud  is  "  short  in  stature,  aged  about  sixty,  is  unmarried, 
and  is  first  in  the  privy  council.  His  views  are  moderate,  and 
he  is  not  unfriendly  to  the  Catholic  religion.  He  has  the 
King's  interests  thoroughly  at  heart ;  he  studies  to  increase  the 
revenue,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason  is  preferred  by  the  King 
to  all  his  other  advisers.  He  is  ready  for  any  amount  of  work, 
and  all  ecclesiastical  affairs  receive  his  personal  attention.  He 
is  reputed  an  Arminian,  and  in  nearly  all  dogmas  approaches 
nearly  to  the  Roman  Church.  With  the  King's  permission  he 
has  made  innovations  in  the  Scotch  as  well  as  in  the  English 
churches,  has  erected  altars,  and  put  sacred  pictures  in  many 
places.  He  has  the  honour  and  glory  of  the  clergy  extremely 
at  heart.  Many  think  his  aim  is  to  reconcile  this  Church  with 
Rome,  others  hold  quite  opposite  views,  and  both  extremes  have 
some  show  and  reason,  for  on  the  one  hand,  one  sees  in  him 
great  ambition  to  imitate  Catholic  rites,  and  on  the  other,  what 
looks  almost  like  a  positive  hatred  of  Catholics  and  their 


192  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

religion.  Sometimes  he  persecutes  them,  but  this  is  interpreted 
by  many  to  mean  only  prudence,  and  a  way  of  escape  from  the 
murmurs  and  quarrels  of  the  Puritans." 

The  Queen  and  Panzani  were  on  excellent  terms.  Cardinal 
Barberini  had  sent  Henrietta  Maria  some  very  costly  presents, 
and  she  was  anxious  to  show  him  a  similar  attention.  Father 
Philip  considered  that  English  horses  would  form  a  most 
suitable  gift,  but  the  Queen  asked  him  to  consult  Panzani.  "  If 
her  Majesty  wants  to  send  a  really  acceptable  present  to  Rome, 
let  her  send  the  heart  of  the  King,"  said  the  envoy,  smiling. 
Father  Philip  replied  that  this  treasure  she  wished  to  keep 
entirely  for  her  own. 

"  I  make  no  doubt,"  answered  Panzani,  "  that  in  sending  the 
King's  heart  to  Rome,  the  Queen  would  only  possess  it  the 
more  entirely,  and  without  danger  of  rivalry  from  conflicting 
religious  sects." 

Father  Philip  then  told  her  that  if  it  pleased  the  Father 
of  Mercy,  she  should  send  this  truly  precious  gift,  and  that  his 
Eminence  cared  for  no  horses. 

Soon  after  this,  Panzani  returned  home,  and  was  made 
Bishop  of  Miletus.  Meanwhile  George  Conn,  a  Scotchman,  had 
been  chosen  to  replace  him,  the  papal  court  considering  that 
he  possessed  the  rare  qualities  described  by  Panzani  as  neces- 
sary for  the  delicate  position  of  papal  envoy  to  the  Catholic 
queen  of  a  non-Catholic  country. 

Panzani  being  an  Italian,  and  possessing  no  language  but  his 
own,  could  only  communicate  with  the  Queen  and  the  secretaries 
of  State  through  an  interpreter.  As  he  was  a  priest,  he  was 
liable  to  cause  irritation  to  such  of  the  court  and  nation  who 
were  not  "  popishly  inclined." 

Conn  had  passed  twenty-four  years  in  Italy,  had  courtier- 
like  manners  and  bearing.  He  was  a  layman,  although  a 
canon  of  one  of  the  great  Roman  basilicas,  and  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  a  candidate  for  a  red  hat.  With  his  brilliant 
parts,  great  capacity,  urbanity,  and  zeal,  it  is  not  surprising  to 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT       193 

learn  that  he  was  declared  to  be  a  Jesuit,  a  generic  term  not 
only  in  his  own  days,  but  down  to  our  own,  for  all  who  have 
laboured  diligently  to  restore  the  old  religion. 

We  find  it  quite  gravely  asserted  in  the  records  of  the  reign 
of  Charles  L,  that  Jesuits  were  of  three  degrees,  and  were  to  be 
found  among  politicians,  merchants,  and  the  professed  Fathers 
living  in  religious  houses.  It  would  be  obviously  superfluous 
to  refute  this  ridiculous  statement  which  seems  destined  to 
crop  up  at  intervals  to  the  end  of  time,  quite  regardless  of  the 
fact  that  it  has  been  repeatedly  shown  to  affirm  an  impos- 
sibility. 

Conn  had  no  sooner  arrived  in  England  than  the  report 
was  spread  that  he  was  a  disguised  Jesuit,  come  to  receive  the 
King  into  the  Catholic  Church.  Charles,  in  terror  of  the 
Puritans,  declared  that  it  was  a  purely  malicious  invention,  but 
none  the  less  he  continued  to  temporise,  and  the  court  to 
regulate  its  conscience  according  to  his  vacillating  example. 
Some  of  the  nobility  were  received  into  the  Church,  and  among 
them  Lord  Boteler  and  Lady  Newport.  Mass  was  again  said 
in  the  houses  of  the  Catholic  gentry. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Cardinal,  written  soon  after  his  arrival, 
Conn  gave  an  account  of  a  long  conversation  he  had  had  with 
Charles,  in  the  course  of  which  he  "remarked  to  his  Majesty 
that  the  other  powers  of  Christendom  were  extremely  jealous 
of  the  relations  which  had  begun  to  exist  between  the  Apostolic 
See  and  Great  Britain.  They  know,"  he  continued,  "that  a 
perfect  union  between  the  two  must  necessarily  tend  to  check 
their  extravagances,  and  restore  to  Christ  His  lost  patrimony 
in  the  west." 

To  this  the  King  replied  with  some  emotion,  saying : — 

"  May  God  pardon  the  first  authors  of  the  rupture." 

"  Sire,"  I  answered,  "  the  greater  will  be  your  Majesty's 
glory,  when  by  your  means  so  great  an  evil  is  remedied."  To 
which  the  King  made  no  further  response. 

Not    long    afterwards,   Charles    asked    Conn    whether    he 

N 


194  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

considered    it    an    easy    thing    for    a     man     to    change    his 
religion. 

"  I  told  him,"  said  Conn,  "  that  when  a  man  applied  himself 
without  passion  or  prejudice  to  find  out  the  truth,  God  never 
failed  to  enlighten  him."  The  which  the  King  took  in  good 
part 

"  I  am  obliged  to  proceed  very  cautiously,"  he  added,  "  that 
they  may  not  think  the  rumour  of  my  coming  here  to  receive 
the  King  into  the  Church  had  its  origin  in  my  presumption. 
It  was  a  truly  diabolical  invention,  and  calculated  to  spoil 
everything." 

If  the  Puritans  were  angry  before,  Conn's  sojourn  in  England 
lashed  them  into  fury.  Rome's  Masterpiece  was  written  when 
his  service  had  come  to  an  end,  and  in  the  first  flush  of  Puritan 
triumph.  On  its  title-page  it  styles  the  mission  "The  Grand 
Conspiracy  of  the  Pope  and  his  Jesuited  instruments  to 
extirpate  the  Protestant  religion,  re-establish  Popery,  subvert 
laws,  liberties,  peace,  parliaments — by  kindling  a  civil  war  in 
Scotland  and  all  his  Majesty's  realms ;  and  to  poison  the 
King  himself,  in  case  he  comply  not  with  them  in  these  their 
execrable  designs." 

This  is  how  the  "conspiracy"  is  said  to  have  been  dis- 
covered : — 

"  Revealed  out  of  conscience  to  Andreas  ab  Habernfeld  by 
an  agent  sent  from  Rome  into  England  by  Cardinal  Barberini, 
as  an  assistant  to  Conn,  the  Pope's  late  Nuncio,  to  prosecute 
this  most  execrable  plot  (in  which  he  persisted  a  principal  actor 
several  years),  who  discovered  it  to  Sir  William  Boswell,  his 
Majesty's  agent  at  the  Hague,  6th  September  1640.  He,  under 
an  oath  of  secrecy  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  among 
whose  papers  it  was  casually  found  by  Mr  Prynne,  May  31, 
1643,  who  communicated  it  to  the  king,  as  the  greatest  business 
that  ever  was  put  to  him." 

Events  had  succeeded  each  other  with  alarming  significance. 
Nothing  was  too  wild  for  the  Puritans  to  invent  or  to  believe, 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT      195 

and  it  had  been  found  impossible  to  uphold  Conn  in  the 
position  of  papal  envoy  to  the  Queen.  After  nearly  three 
years'  service,  he  had  consequently  been  withdrawn,  and  in 
August  1639,  Count  Carlo  Rosetti  was  sent  to  lead  the  forlorn 
hope  of  the  English  Catholics.  His  first  impression  of  the 
state  of  the  country  and  of  the  future  of  Catholicism  in  England 
was  hopeful.  "  I  have  found,"  he  wrote  to  Cardinal  Barberini, 
"  in  all  persons  a  better  disposition  and  a  readiness  towards  the 
affairs  of  religion  in  general,  and  an  obedience  full  of  reverence 
towards  the  particular  person  of  his  Holiness  our  Sovereign, 
and  of  your  Eminence."  Windebank  was  fairly  amenable,  but 
Laud  had  pinned  his  faith  to  the  Church  of  England,  and  was 
no  more  favourable  to  the  Catholics  than  to  the  Puritans.  He 
opposed  Rosetti  in  every  possible  way,  burned  Catholic  books 
publicly,  and  threw  all  his  weight  and  influence  in  Parliament 
on  the  side  that  favoured  the  enforcing  of  the  penal  statutes. 
Meanwhile,  the  Queen  was  not  idle,  and  had  pleaded  successfully 
with  the  King  for  her  persecuted  co-religionists,  so  that  Rosetti 
was  able  to  report,  "  Through  the  grace  of  God,  all  the  priests 
and  Catholics  are  at  last  released  from  prison,  to  their  extreme 
consolation." 

Nevertheless,  there  was  scarcely  any  further  talk  of  the 
nation's  return  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church ;  all  that  was  now 
hoped  for  was,  that  if  the  King  could  be  got  to  act  with  some 
degree  of  firmness  and  consistency,  the  cause  of  the  unhappy 
Catholics  might  not  yet  be  altogether  lost.  Rosetti  drew,  as 
far  as  it  went,  a  life-like  portrait  of  Charles  in  one  of  his 
letters  :— 

"  The  King,"  he  says,  "  is  very  high-minded  ;  but  having  no 
sincere,  experienced,  and  capable  persons  to  assist  him,  he  is 
often  either  agitated  or  changeable,  and  undecided  in  the 
administration  of  affairs.  He  has  great  parts,  and  much 
benevolence,  is  by  nature  gentle  and  moderate,  and  with  regard 
to  morals,  is  singular  among  princes.  It  is  not  possible  to 
exaggerate  his  love  of  justice ;  in  the  exercise  of  this  virtue  he 


196  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

is  little  accessible  to  compassion,  but  at  the  same  time,  he  is  no 
friend  of  capital  punishment.  Honesty  is  one  of  the  strongest 
points  in  his  character,  but  not  being  surrounded  with  trust- 
worthy ministers,  it  often  happens  that  he  neglects  the  interests 
of  the  State,  and  gives  himself  up  to  hunting,  which  is  his 
favourite  occupation  and  amusement" 

But  the  Puritans  were  fast  gaining  the  upper  hand ; 
Parliament  haggled  with  the  King  over  the  supplies,  and 
frightful  scenes  were  enacted  in  the  churches. 

"  Last  Sunday  morning,"  wrote  Rosetti,  "  many  Protestants 
and  Puritans  being  assembled  at  church  to  celebrate  their 
sacrament,  it  came  to  a  great  contest  between  them ; 
some  were  determined  to  communicate  sitting,  others 
kneeling.  From  words  they  passed  to  blows,  causing  much 
disturbance." 

The  other  day,  a  large  number  of  Puritans  went  into  a 
Protestant  Church,  and  upset  the  altars  which  stood  against  the 
wall  with  rails  in  front  of  them,  where  people  were  going  to 
Communion  in  the  Catholic  manner.  They  took  possession  of 
twelve  statues  representing  the  twelve  apostles,  and  carried 
them  with  cries  and  tumult  into  the  Parliament" 

On  another  occasion  he  wrote  : — 

"The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  persecutes  the  Catholics 
more  than  ever.  On  the  vigil  of  Pentecost,  I  am  told  by  a 
trustworthy  person,  he  threw  himself  at  the  King's  feet,  beseech- 
ing him  to  proceed  against  the  Catholic  religion,  at  least  from 
political  interests,  if  not  from  conscientious  motives." 

Laud  was  terrified.  All  that  he  had  done  to  imitate 
Catholicism  he  now  undid,  as  far  as  he  was  able,  in  order,  if 
possible,  to  pacify  the  Puritans.  The  order  to  bow  at  the  holy 
Name  was  revoked,  the  communion-tables  were  replaced  in  the 
middle  of  the  churches,  and  from  being  called  altars  were 
renamed  tables.  The  altar  rails  were  abolished,  and  the 
people  communicated  after  the  Calvinist  manner.  A  quantity 
of  Catholic  books  were  ostentatiously  burned  in  a  public  square, 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT      197 

and  the  state  of  affairs  looked  less  like  reunion  with  Rdme  than 
ever. 

But  all  that  Laud  did  availed  him  nothing  ;  the  disturbances 
continued  in  the  churches,  and  scarcely  a  service  was  held 
without  a  quarrel  arising  as  to  the  manner  of  conducting  it, 
some  fighting  for  one  posture,  some  for  another. 

Neither  did  the  Archbishop  become  more  popular  with  the 
multitude.  A  courageous  stand  against  the  Puritans  might 
have  inspired  them  with  some  respect  for  their  enemy ;  yielding 
to  them  from  fear  only  made  them  more  formidable.  Some- 
times the  High  Church  party  would  still  score  a  victory  here 
and  there.  A  Puritan  holding  forth  one  day  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  with  the  usual  flow  of  epithets,  on  the  difference 
between  the  Catholic  religion  and  that  of  the  Puritans,  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  rose,  and  declared  that  his  language  was 
unbecoming  in  a  pulpit,  put  an  end  to  the  sermon,  and  forced 
the  preacher  to  come  down. 

But  these  triumphs  were  rare ;  few  of  the  king's  men  were 
as  bold  as  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln.  All  seemed  to  be  painfully 
busy  in  saving  their  skins,  while  the  Parliamentarians  com- 
plained loudly  and  efficaciously  that  Charles  had  allowed  the 
primate  to  foist  a  new  religion  upon  them.  Through  the 
primate  they  proceeded  to  attack  the  King.  Placards  began  to 
appear  all  over  London,  with  declarations  to  the  effect  that  the 
people  were  determined  to  enjoy  the  liberty  with  which  they 
were  born,  and  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  their  religious 
worship.  One  of  these  placards  was  discovered  one  morning 
nailed  to  the  gate  of  the  royal  palace  at  Whitehall.  On  it  were 
these  words :  "  Charles  and  Maria,  doubt  not  but  that  the  arch- 
bishop must  die ! " 

Charles's  authority  had  disappeared  with  his  dignity,  and 
the  parsimony  of  successive  Parliaments  had  impoverished  the 
royal  family  to  so  great  an  extent  that  the  want  of  money  was 
not  the  least  of  their  troubles.  At  one  time  they  were  reduced  to 
such  straits  that  hunger  would  have  stared  them  in  the  face  but 


198  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

for  the  alternative  of  pawning  their  jewels.  In  these  circum- 
stances it  is  scarcely  surprising  that  Charles  should  have  turned 
to  the  Pope  for  help. 

The  following  letter  from  Rosetti  to  the  Cardinal,  if  some- 
what discursive,  is  interesting  as  the  record  of  a  kind  of 
sommation  respectueuse  which  he  now  made  to  the  King  : — 

"Oatlands,  August  10/25,  1640. 

"  Your  Eminence's  letters  of  the  3Oth  June  and  the  7th 
July  having  reached  me,  I  did  not  omit  to  speak  to  Mr 
Windebank  on  the  subject  of  his  Majesty's  conversion,  and  of 
the  succour  in  the  shape  of  men  and  money  that  will  be  sent 
to  him  from  Rome  in  the  event  of  its  taking  place.  After  some 
talk  about  the  present  state  of  the  King's  affairs,  Mr  Windebank 
asked  me  whether  I  had  received  letters  from  Rome  relating 
to  the  proposal  he  had  already  made  me.  I  replied  that  I 
had,  and  that  your  Eminence  was  extremely  well-disposed 
towards  this  country,  sympathising  deeply  with  his  Majesty 
in  his  troubles,  caused  by  the  disobedience  and  faithlessness 
of  the  Puritans.  This  led  to  my  saying  that  a  State  could 
not  possibly  be  either  happy  or  secure  unless  united,  and  that 
unity  was  impossible  without  one  uniform  religion.  I  then 
put  forward  the  indisputable  fact,  that  a  prince  whose  subjects 
profess  one  faith  alone  is  beyond  compare  more  powerful  than 
a  sovereign  whose  people  are  split  up  into  various  religions, 
and  that  the  many  sects  in  this  realm,  opposed  to  every  form 
of  political  government,  ought  to  make  his  Majesty  pause,  and 
reflect  on  the  remedy. 

"  I  added  that  in  reality  there  was  no  other  remedy  than 
for  the  King,  with  all  his  Protestants,  to  embrace  our  holy 
religion,  when  forming  one  body  with  the  Catholic  party, 
they  would  be  strong  enough  to  keep  the  Puritans  in 
check. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  it  was,  I  said,  only  too  evident,  that 
if  measures  were  not  taken  to  repress  them,  they  would  grow 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT      199 

so  powerful  as  to  imperil  one  day  the  very  existence  of 
monarchy  in  England.  Every  hour  it  became,  I  held,  more 
apparent  how  little  they  were  in  touch  with  the  King,  and 
how  determined  they  were  never  to  rest  till  they  had  intro- 
duced popular  government  in  some  form  or  other. 

"  Here  I  digressed,  in  order  to  point  out  how  often  King 
James,  his  Majesty's  father,  had  found  himself  in  danger  of 
losing  his  life  by  the  machinations  of  the  Puritans,  having 
been  menaced  by  them  even  before  he  saw  the  light  of  day. 
I  then  went  on  to  point  out  that  King  Charles  was  placed 
in  the  very  same  danger,  and  his  kingdom  reduced  to  such  a 
state  of  discord  and  weakness,  that  he  must  fear  daily  to  find 
himself  and  his  crown  the  prey  of  his  worst  enemies. 

"The  Puritans  have  always  been,  and  ever  will  be,  intent 
on  upsetting  all  kingly  authority.  Such  is  the  rebellious 
spirit  of  their  Calvinism,  that  it  aims  at  nothing  less  than 
the  total  destruction  of  the  King  and  of  the  Catholic 
religion. 

"  I  then  spoke  of  the  greatness  which  would  accrue  to 
England  if  the  King's  conversion  were  brought  about,  dwelling 
not  only  on  the  advantageous  relationships  he  might  form,  in 
disposing  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  in  marriage,  but  also  on 
the  disputes  perpetually  taking  place  between  France  and 
Spain,  in  which  his  Majesty  would  be  the  recognised  arbitrator 
and  peacemaker.  Neither  country  would  have  the  temerity 
to  offend  him,  on  account  of  the  power  he  would  possess  to 
harm  them,  having  the  supreme  Pontiff  on  his  side." 

Rosetti  here  proceeds  to  define,  somewhat  lengthily,  the 
exact  position  of  a  Catholic  King  of  England  in  European 
politics,  and  the  kind  of  prestige  he  would  acquire  if  he 
embraced  a  religion  to  which  he  was  already  partially  inclined. 
Then,  speaking  of  the  King  more  personally,  he  went  on : — 

"  If,  having  considered  all  these  things,  his  Majesty  comes 
to  a  decided  resolution,  he  should  not  delay  putting  it  into 


200  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

effect  from  fear  of  the  consequences.  Henry  VIII.  risked  more 
in  his  unholy  determination  to  destroy  the  Catholic  religion, 
which  had  flourished  in  this  country  with  such  pious  results 
for  so  many  centuries.  I  insisted  that  it  was  time  his 
Majesty  made  an  end  of  his  ambiguousness  and  hesitation, 
and  that  he  should  once  for  all  fix  his  mind,  there  being 
nothing  more  injurious  than  leisurely  deliberation  when  a 
man  has  need  of  prompt  decision  and  action.  I  told  Mr 
Windebank  further,  that  the  King's  procrastination  was  simply 
putting  the  sceptre  into  the  hands  of  the  Puritans,  was 
ruining  the  State,  his  children,  and  himself,  and  that  a  really 
wise  prince  not  only  provides  for  the  safety  of  his  kingdom 
during  his  own  life-time,  but  orders  things  in  such  a 
manner  that  at  his  death  he  secures  his  inheritance  to  his 
posterity. 

"  His  Majesty,  I  declared,  could  take  no  step  more  just 
and  more  pleasing  to  God  than  by  restoring  to  this  country 
its  ancient  religion,  professed  by  his  ancestors,  and  I  believed 
that  this  King,  so  good,  so  just,  and  so  virtuous  in  many 
ways,  was  appointed  by  divine  Providence  for  the  great  work. 

"  The  King  was,  I  said,  already  armed ;  help  might 
confidently  be  expected  to  flow  in  from  Ireland,  through  the 
devotion  and  loyalty  of  that  people,  and  his  Holiness  would 
moreover  assist  him  with  men  and  money. 

"  Finally,  I  showed  the  necessity  of  this  union,  for  the  salva- 
tion of  souls,  a  point  which  I  ought  to  have  begun  with,  it 
being  certain  that  none  can  be  saved  out  of  the  bosom  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  Of  this  the  Nicaean  Council  speaks  in  the 
great  creed,  in  unam  sanctam  Catholicam  Ecclesiam  et  Apostoli- 
cam,  in  which  Protestants  believe  as  we  do,  and  yet  it  is  not 
said  that  there  are  two  or  more  churches. 

"  Confessing  as  they  do  that  ours  is  the  Catholic  Church, 
they  contradict  their  own  belief  in  the  said  creed ;  and  not 
only  this,  but  the  ancient  Fathers,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures 
agree  that  the  Church  of  God  is  one. 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POLISH  PLOT       201 

"  Having  added  many  other  things  to  this  proposition,  I 
said  that  if  one  examined  the  reasons  which  induced  Henry 
VIII.  to  give  up  the  Church,  one  would  find  that  they  had 
no  other  origin  than  in  sensuality  and  spleen — false  and 
unworthy  pretexts. 

"  I  ended  by  declaring  that  whoever  considers  a  matter  so 
important  as  is  the  salvation  of  souls,  ought  to  have  his  eyes 
well  open,  and  not  consent  to  the  errors  of  that  king,  whose 
actions  are  condemned  and  abhorred  by  all. 

"  Mr  Windebank  replied  that  he  had  listened  to  me  with 
pleasure,  and  had  weighed  all  my  reasons,  finding  them  very 
true ;  but  that  for  the  accomplishment  of  an  undertaking  so 
momentous,  a  large  heart  and  a  strong  will  were  indispens- 
able, and  these  he  could  not  at  present  promise  me.  He 
told  me  in  confidence  that  never  until  now  had  negotiations 
of  such  importance  passed  through  his  hands,  to  be  followed 
by  so  few  results.  One  day  the  King  would  have  recourse 
to  an  expedient,  and  the  next  would  stultify  it,  with  the 
greatest  inconstancy  imaginable.  Nevertheless,  he  assured  me 
that  he  would  not  fail  to  repeat  all  I  had  said,  to  his  Majesty 
at  the  first  opportunity. 

"...  The  matter  is  indeed  so  grave,  that  one  rather 
hopes  in  the  sovereign  power  of  God  than  in  any  human 
help.  Still,  we  must  be  ready,  for  His  Divine  Majesty  often 
makes  use  of  us  creatures  to  bring  forth  works  which  shall 
redound  to  His  service. 

"  I  observed  both  with  Father  Philip  and  Mr  Windebank  all 
the  caution  that  such  an  important  undertaking  demands.  May 
God  who  gives  and  who  takes  away  realms,  who  changes  and 
governs  them  as  He  pleases,  enlighten  the  King's  mind,  that  he 
may  know  what  he  should  do  for  the  salvation  of  his  own  soul 
and  the  souls  of  all  his  people." 

In  1641  many  letters  were  written  and  received  by  Count 
Rosetti,  relating  to  the  freedom  of  conscience  to  be  granted  to 
Catholics,  in  return  for  a  sum  of  600  scudi.  But  freedom  of 


202  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

conscience  was  still  one  of  the  unfulfilled  conditions  of  the  king's 
marriage  settlement,  and  the  Pope,  it  was  objected,  could  not 
treat  with  an  heretical  sovereign. 

"  Only  in  the  event  of  the  King's  conversion,"  wrote  Cardinal 
Barberini,  2ist  February  1641,  "would  it  be  possible  for  me  to 
entreat  His  Holiness  to  send  a  considerable  sum  of  money." 


On  the  iQth  July  of  the  same  year,  Rosetti  wrote  :  — 

"  I  told  him  (Father  Philip)  that  the  only  way  to  obtain  help 
from  the  Holy  See  was  by  His  Majesty's  return  to  the  Catholic 
Church.  He  answered  that  such  a  step  would  be  extremely 
difficult  at  present,  not  because  the  King  had  any  dislike  to 
Catholicism,  neither  did  he  wish  to  prevent  Catholics  from 
saving  their  souls  ;  but  that  it  was  evident  if  he  changed  his 
religion  just  now,  he  would  run  great  risk  of  losing  his  crown 
and  his  life.  But  if  he  were  enabled  to  recover  his  power  and 
authority,  the  Catholic  cause  would  be  strengthened  by  support- 
ing him,  and  his  conversion  might  then  be  confidently  looked 
forward  to. 

"The  Queen  Mother  told  me  that  in  speaking  of  certain 
miracles  performed  by  the  saint  in  whose  honour  the  proces- 
sions are  being  made  just  now  at  Antwerp,  she  observed  the 
King  listening  attentively,  seeming!  to  have  a  decided  taste  for 
the  Catholic  religion.  She  however  admitted,  that  although  he 
appears  to  have  great  natural  capacity,  and  to  understand  the 
critical  state  of  his  affairs,  he  is,  as  they  say,  timid,  slow,  and 
irresolute." 

Charles  I.  never  went  any  further  than  the  cultivation  of  "  a 
decided  taste  for  the  Catholic  religion,"  and  what  would  have 
happened  had  he  really  thrown  himself  into  the  arms  of  the 
Pope  must  remain  one  of  those  curious  and  unsolvable  historical 
problems  with  which  the  world  is  full. 

Would  the  Papacy,  still  a  great  force  in  Europe,  have  been 
able  to  save  him  from  the  terrible  fate  that  awaited  him  ? 


CHARLES  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  POPISH  PLOT      203 

Obliged  to  act  from  definite,  logical  principles  in  the  place  of  his 
mischievous  theory  of  the  royal  prerogative,  would  he  have 
gained  in  moral  weight  as  well  as  in  the  material  advantages 
held  out  to  him  ? 

It  may  be  answered  that  the  Puritans  were  as  little  inclined 
to  tolerate  an  infallible  Pope  whom  they  hated  and  feared,  as  an 
infallible  king  whom  they  could  drive  into  a  corner ;  and  pos- 
sibly the  King  would  only  have  died  in  another  cause. 

Under  a  portrait  of  Charles  I.,  painted  in  the  fortieth  year  of 
his  age,  in  which  he  is  represented  as  grave,  troubled,  and  with  a 
scared  and  hunted  look  in  his  eyes,  Prynne  wrote  these  lines : — 

"  All  flesh  is  grass,  the  best  men  vanity, 
This,  but  a  shadow,  here  before  thine  eye, 
Of  him  whose  wondrous  changes  clearly  show 
That  God,  not  man,  sways  all  things  here  below." 


PART    II 


THE  RUTHWELL  CROSS  IN  ITS  PRESENT  CONDITION. 


[To  face  page  207 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA 

THERE  is  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  at  South 
Kensington  a  remarkable  plaster  cast,  the  facsimile  of  one  of 
the  two  beautiful  obelisks  of  Anglo-Saxon  workmanship,  which 
like  far-reaching  voices  speak  to  us  across  the  gulf  of  at  least 
nine  centuries. 

The  interest  which  surrounds  these  ancient  crosses  is  of 
a  twofold  nature.  There  is  the  marvellous  art  expressed  in 
the  sculptured  stones  themselves,  and  there  is  the  mysterious 
charm  of  the  runes  with  which  the  stones  are  inscribed.  The 
art  is  of  a  very  high  order,  and  in  the  opinion  of  archaeologists 
such  as  Haigh,  Kemble,  Professor  Stephens,  and  others,  better 
than  anything  of  the  kind  produced  in  mediaeval  times,  before 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  kingdom  of  Northumbria  extended  at  its  most  flourish- 
ing period  as  far  north  as  Edinburgh,  so  named  after  the  great 
Northumbrian  King,  Edwin,  its  southern  limit  being,  as  its 
name  implied,  the  river  Humber.  Thus,  the  Ruthwell  Cross 
in  Dumfriesshire,  and  the  Bewcastle  Cross  in  Cumberland, 
belonged  alike  to  Anglia ;  for  although  Dumfries  formed  part 
of  the  kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  the  territory  to  the  east  of 
Nithsdale  was  generally  reckoned  a  part  of  Northumbria,  and 
if  we  were  less  hampered  by  our  modern  geographical  limits 
and  boundaries,  we  should  better  realise  that  the  land  north 
and  south  of  the  Tweed  was  one  and  the  same  country, 

207 


208  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

without  distinction  of  race  or  language.  And  as  if  in  solemn 
protest  of  the  political  barriers,  which  were  set  up  in  the 
course  of  ages,  these  two  obelisks,  the  one  now  in  Scotland,  the 
other  in  England,  continue  to  point  heavenwards,  each  bear- 
ing upon  their  faces  the  same  grand  old  Northumbrian 
language,  which  is  the  mother-tongue  of  all  English  speaking 
people. 

Both  crosses  have  been,  down  to  the  present  day,  the 
subject  of  much  diversity  of  opinion  among  antiquaries, 
first  with  regard  to  their  respective  ages,  and  secondly  as 
to  the  authorship  of  the  inscriptions  on  the  Ruthwell 
Cross. 

The  celebrated  Danish  antiquary,  Dr  Miiller,  considered  that 
the  Ruthwell  Cross  could  not  be  older  than  the  year  1000,  and 
he  arrived  at  this  conclusion  by  a  study  of  the  ornamentation, 
which  he  placed  as  late  as  the  Carlovingian  period,  the  style 
having  been  imported  from  France  into  England.  Miiller, 
however,  though  a  good  archaeologist,  was  not  a  runic  scholar, 
and  Professor  George  Stephens  maintained l  that  not  ornamenta- 
tion merely,  but  a  variety  of  other  things  must  also  be  taken 
into  consideration,  and  that  these  are  often  absolute  and 
final,  so  that  sometimes  the  object  itself  must  date  the 
ornamentation.  Then  Dr  Haigh,  who  had  passed  his  life 
in  the  study  of  the  oldest  sculptured  and  inscribed  stones 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  stepped  in  and  pronounced 
"this  monument  (the  Ruthwell  Cross)  and  that  of  Bew- 
castle  to  be  of  the  same  age  and  the  work  of  the  same 
hand ;  and  the  latter  must  have  been  erected  A.D. 

664-5-" 

He  was  led  to  this  conclusion  not  by  the  ornamentation, 
but  rather  in  spite  of  it;  and  in  consideration  of  the  runic 
inscriptions,  which  he  declared  had  not  only  passed  out  of 
date  on  funeral  monuments  as  late  as  the  year  1000,  but  as 
he  read  the  name  of  Alcfrid  on  the  Bewcastle  Cross,  he 
1  Old  Northern  Runic  Monuments,  Afterwrit,  p.  431. 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA  209 

inferred  both  that  and  the  Ruthwell  Cross  to  be  produc- 
tions of  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh  century.  The  in- 
scription, of  which  we  will  treat  more  particularly  later  on, 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  obelisk  was  raised  to  the  memory 
of  Alcfrid,  son  of  that  King  of  Northumbria,  who  decided 
to  celebrate  Easter  according  to  the  Roman  precept.  Alcfrid 
died  about  the  year  664,  and  thus  when  we  consider  the 
similarity  of  the  ornamentation,  and  the  character  of  the  runes 
on  both  obelisks,  there  seemed  good  reason  for  the  above 
inference. 

Dr  Haigh  further  remarked  that  the  scroll-work  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Bewcastle  monument,  and  on  the  two  sides 
of  that  at  Ruthwell  was  identical  in  design,  and  differed  very 
much  from  that  which  he  found  on  other  Saxon  crosses.  In 
fact,  he  knew  of  nothing  like  it,  except  small  portions  on  a 
fragment  of  a  cross  in  the  York  museum,  on  another  fragment 
preserved  in  Yarrow  Church,  and  on  a  cross  at  Hexham.  There 
are,  however,  several  other  such  stones  which  were  unknown  to  Dr 
Haigh,  and  engravings  of  them  may  be  seen  in  Dr  John 
Stuart's  magnificent  work  on  The  Sculptured  Stones  of 
Scotland. 

At  Carew,  in  Pembrokeshire,  runic  crosses  of  the  Saxon 
period  without  figures  may  be  seen,  and  there  is  a  runic  cross 
at  Lancaster  with  incised  lines  and  a  pattern  in  relief,  supposed 
to  be  of  the  fifth  or  sixth  century.  The  sculptured  stones  of 
Meigle  in  Scotland  have  no  runes.  Runes  were,  as  it  is  well 
known,  the  characters  used  by  the  Teutonic  tribes  of  north- 
west Europe  before  they  received  the  Latin  alphabet.  They 
are  divided  into  three  principal  classes,  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the 
Germanic,  and  the  Scandinavian,  bearing  the  same  relation  to 
each  other  as  do  the  different  Greek  alphabets.  Their  likeness 
to  each  other  is  so  great  that  a  common  origin  may  be  ascribed 
to  all.  They  date  from  the  dim  twilight  of  paganism,  but 
were  for  a  time  employed  in  the  service  of  Christianity,  when 
after  being  imported  into  this  country  where  they  were  first 

O 


2io        STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

used  in  pagan  inscriptions  cut  into  the  surface  of  rocks,  or 
on  sticks  for  casting  lots,  or  for  divination,  they  were  at  last 
made  to  express  Christian  ideas  on  grave  crosses  or  sacred 
vessels. 

"  In  times,"  says  Kemble,1  "when  there  was  neither  pen,  ink, 
nor  parchment  the  bark  of  trees  and  smooth  surfaces  of  wood  or 
soft  stone  were  the  usual  depositaries  of  these  symbols  or  runes 
— hence  the  name  run-stafas,  mysterious  staves  answering  to 
the  Buchstaben  of  the  Germans. 

We  may  observe  in  passing,  that  the  word  Buchstaben, 
beech-staves,  is  a  direct  descendant  of  these  wooden  runes. 

As  early  as  1695  antiquaries  were  busy  with  the  Ruthwell 
Cross,  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  profound 
ignorance  still  reigned  in  regard  even  to  the  language  which  the 
runes  were  intended  to  convey.  Bishop  Gibson,  in  his  additions 
to  Camden's  Britannia,  described  the  cross  vaguely  as  "  a  pillar 
curiously  engraven  with  some  inscription  upon  it"  In  a  second 
edition  this  reads,  "with  a  Danish  inscription."  Later  it 
was  thought  to  be  Icelandic,  and  it  was  Haigh  who  first 
thought  that  Caedmon  and  no  other  was  the  author  of  the 
runic  verses  which  he  deciphered,  considering  that  there  was 
no  one  living  at  the  period  to  which  he  assigned  the  monu- 
ment, who  could  have  composed  such  a  poem  but  the  first  of  all 
the  English  nation  to  express  in  verse  the  beginning  of  created 
things. 

In  1840,  Kemble  published  his  Runes  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
showing  that  the  Ruthwell  Cross  was  a  Christian  monument, 
and  that  the  inscription  was  nothing  less  than  twenty  lines  of  a 
poem  in  Old  Northumbrian  or  North  English. 

Meanwhile,  in  1822,  a  German  scholar,  Dr  Friedrich  Blume, 
had  discovered  in  the  cathedral  library  at  Vercelli  in  the 
Milanese  six  Anglo-Saxon  poems  of  the  early  part  of  the 
eleventh  century,  which  discovery  aroused  great  interest  both  in 
Germany  and  in  England.  Blume  copied  the  manuscript,  and 

ia,  vol.  xxviii.     On  Anglo-Saxon  Runes, 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA  211 

Mr  Benjamin  Thorpe  printed  and  published  it.  The  learned 
philologist  Grimm  again  printed  the  longest  of  the  poems  in 
1840,  but  it  was  Kemble  who  identified  the  fourth  poem  of 
the  series  The  Dream  of  the  Rood  with  the  runic  inscription 
on  the  Ruthwell  Cross,  and  it  was  he  who  first  suggested  that 
all  the  poems  in  the  Vercelli  Codex,  consisting  of  135  leaves, 
were  by  Cynewulf,  who  like  Caedmon  was  a  Northumbrian,  and 
lived  in  the  second  half  of  the  eighth  century.  It  was  Kemble 
also  who  first  gave  The  Dream  of  the  Rood  a  modern  English 
rendering.1 

So  far  steady  progress  had  been  made,  except  one  step 
which  is  now  stated  by  modern  Anglo-Saxon  scholars  to  have 
been  a  false  one.  Professor  Stephens  following  Haigh  thought 
he  could  decipher  on  the  top  stone  of  the  cross  the  words 
Cadmon  Mcz  Fawed,  and  inferred  therefrom  that  the  Cross  Lay 
of  which  fragments  were  inscribed  on  the  Ruthwell  monument 
was  the  work  of  Caedmon,  "the  Milton  of  North  England  in 
the  seventh  century."  But  according  to  the  evidence  of  the 
latest  expert  who  has  examined  the  cross,  Caedmon's  name  has 
never  been  on  it,  and  both  linguistic  and  archaeological  con- 
siderations assign  the  inscription  to  the  tenth  century,  and 
probably  to  the  latter  half  of  it.  This  critic  declares  that  there 
is  "no  shadow  of  proof  or  probability  that  the  inscription 
represents  a  poem  written  by  Caedmon." 

Sweet,  on  the  other  hand 2  describes  The  Dream  of  the  Rood, 
in  the  Vercelli  Book,  as  an  introduction  to  the  Elene  or  Finding 
of  the  Cross  which  is  unmistakably  claimed  as  Cynewulf's  own 
by  an  acrostic  introduced  into  the  runic  letters  which  form  his 

1  A  translation  of  the  fragment  in  Old  Northumbrian  had  indeed  been 
attempted  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  by  Mr  Repp  and  also 
by  a  disciple  of  the  great  Fin  Magnusen,  Mr  J.  M.  M'Caul,  but  the  least  said 
about  these  versions  the  better,  both  being  wide  of  the  mark.  Being 
imperfectly  acquainted  with  Old  English  they  made  the  most  absurd 
statements  regarding  the  purpose  the  monument  was  supposed  to  have 
served. 

*  Anglo-Saxon  Reader,  p.  1 54,  ;th  edition, 


212  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

name,  and  goes  on  to  assert  that  the  Ruthwell  Cross  gives  a 
fragment  of  the  poem  in  the  Old  Northern  dialect  of  the  seventh 
or  eighth  century,  "of  which  the  MS.  text  is  evidently  a  late 
West  Saxon  transcription  differing  in  many  respects  from  the  older 
one"  He  considers  that  The  Dream  belongs  to  the  age  of 
Caedmon,  and  that  the  poetry  of  Cynewulf  was  an  adaptation 
of  older  compositions. 

There  can  be  now  no  possible  doubt  but  that  the  poems  in 
the  Vercelli  Codex  are  by  Cynewulf,  the  controversy  henceforth 
being  as  to  whether  Tlu  Dream  of  the  Rood  or  the  inscription  on 
the  cross  is  the  older.  Cynewulf,  being  a  Northumbrian,  presum- 
ably wrote  in  the  old  Northumbrian  language  such  as  is  inscribed 
on  the  cross,  but  all  his  poems  as  they  have  come  down  to  us  have 
passed  into  the  West  Saxon  tongue,  and  if  the  fragment  on  the 
Ruthwell  Cross  is,  as  modern  archaeologists  aver,  later  than  the 
Dream  in  the  Vercelli  Codex  it  must  be  a  re-translation  into 
the  dialect  in  which  it  was  first  written.  A  further  difficulty  lies 
in  the  fact  stated  by  Haigh  that  runes  had  passed  out  of  date 
on  funeral  monuments  as  late  as  the  year  1000,  and  we  can 
indeed  scarcely  conceive  of  their  use  at  the  very  eve  of  the 
Norman  Conquest  when  the  written  language  had  long  become 
general. 

Nevertheless,  as  far  back  as  1890,  Mr  A.  S.  Cook,  professor 
of  the  English  language  and  literature  in  Yale  University,  sug- 
gested that  the  inscription  on  the  Ruthwell  Cross  must  be  as 
late  as  the  tenth  century  and  subsequent  to  the  Lindisfarne 
Gospels.  "  A  comparison  of  the  inscription  with  the  Dream  of 
the  Rood  shows  that  the  former  is  not  an  extract  from  an  earlier 
poem  written  in  the  long  Caedmonian  line  which  is  postulated 
by  Vigfusson  and  Powell,  and  by  Mr  Stopford  Brooke,  since  the 
earliest  dated  verse  is  in  short  lines  only,  and  since  four  of  the 
lines  in  the  cross  inscription  represent  short  lines  in  the  Dream 
of  the  Rood,  it  shows  that  the  latter  is  more  self-consistent,  more 
artistic,  and  therefore  more  likely  to  be  or  to  represent  the 
original ;  and  it  shows  that  certain  of  the  forms  of  the  latter 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA  213 

seem    to   have    been   inadvertently   retained   by   the    adapter, 
who  selected  and  re-arranged  the  lines  for  engraving   on  the 


cross." l 

The  theme  both  of  the  Dream  and  of  the  Elene,  another  of 
the  poems  in  the  Vercelli  Book,  is  the  Cross,  and  Cynewulf,  says 
Mr  Cook,  is  the  first  old  English  author,  of  whom  we  have  any 
knowledge,  to  lay  emphasis  upon  the  Invention  of  the  Cross,  and 
Constantine's  premonitory  dream.  "  If,"  he  continues,  "  we 
consider  Bede's  account  of  Caedmon,  we  are  struck  by  one 
analogy  at  least :  in  each  case  a  command  is  imparted  to  the 
poet  to  celebrate  a  particular  theme — in  the  first,  the  creation 
of  the  world ;  in  the  second,  the  redemption  of  mankind  by 
the  death  of  the  cross.  As  the  one  stands  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Old  Testament,  the  other  epitomises  the  New.  The 
later  poet  may  have  had  the  earlier  in  mind,  and  may  not 
have  been  unwilling  to  enter  into  generous  rivalry  with  him  ; 
but  there  is  this  notable  difference,  Caedmon  does  not  re- 
late his  own  dream,  while  Cynewulf,  if  it  be  Cynewulf, 
does."2 

Elsewhere  he  says  The  Dream  of  the  Rood,  apart  from  its 
present  conclusion,  represents  Cynewulf  (as  we  believe)  in  the 
fullest  vigour  of  his  invention  and  taste,  probably  after  all  his 
other  extant  poems  had  been  composed.  Admirable  in  itself 
and  a  precious  document  of  our  early  literary  history,  it 
gains  still  further  lustre  from  being  indissolubly  associated 
with  that  monument  which  Kemble  has  called  the  most 
beautiful  as  well  as  the  most  interesting  relic  of  Teutonic 
antiquity." 

And  again,  "  So  far  from  the  Cross-inscription  representing 
an  earlier  form  of  the  Dream  of  tlie  Rood,  it  seems  rather  to 
have  been  derived  from  the  latter,  and  to  have  been  corrupted 
in  the  process."  3 

Thus   the  controversy   remains   in    1905,   and    until   some 

1  The  Dream  of  the  Rood,  by  A.  S.  Cook,  p.  xv.,  Oxford,  1905. 

2  Ibid.)  p.  Ivii.  3  Ibid.)  p.  xvj. 


214  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

further  light  is  shed  upon  the  difficult  question — for  it  is 
impossible  to  regard  Mr  Cook's  solution  as  in  all  points 
satisfying — we  must  be  content  with  the  results  obtained. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  poem  itself  by  the  help  of 
Professor  Stephens'  admirable  translation.  Essentially  a 
Christian  composition,  it  preserves  all  the  Gothic  strength  and 
virile  beauty  of  the  old  pagan  forms.  The  modern  words, 
Saviour,  Passion,  Apostles,  etc,  do  not  once  appear.  Christ  is 
the  "  Youthful  Hero,"  He  is  the  "  Peace-God,"  the  "  Atheling," 
the  "  Frea  of  mankind."  He  is  even  identified  with  the 
white  god,  Balder  the  Beautiful.  His  friends  are  "  Hilde-rinks  " 
or  "  barons."  In  His  crucifixion  He  is  less  crucified  than  shot 
to  death  with  "streals,"  i.e.,  all  manner  of  missiles  which  the 
"  foemen "  hurl  at  Him.  The  Rood  speaks  and  laments ;  it 
tells  the  story  of  the  last  dread  scene  of  Christ's  suffering,  His 
entombment  in  the  "  mould-house,"  the  triumph  of  the  Cross  in 
His  resurrection,  and  the  entry  of  the  "  Lord  of  Benison  "  into 
his  "  old  home-halls." 

The  doctrine  is  as  sober  as  an  orthodox,  theological  treatise, 
though  the  poem  is  essentially  a  work  of  the  most  fertile  imagina- 
tion, a  drama  with  all  the  rich  accessories  that  tradition  offered 
in  the  matter  of  colouring  and  effect.  And  it  is  withal 
exquisitely  simple,  devout,  and  noble,  breathing  a  spirituality 
strangely  at  variance  with  the  semi-barbaric  people  with  whom 
the  poetry  had  originated. 

Stephens'  translation  is  full  of  poetry,  the  translator  having 
retained  the  lilt  of  the  original,  together  with  many  of  the  old 
English  words  which,  if  they  need  a  glossary,  is  only  because 
we  have  gradually  lost  the  meaning  in  the  substitution  of 
weaker  terms. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  fragments  still  legible  on 
the  Ruthwell  Cross  with  the  South  Saxon  rendering  in  the 
Vercelli  Codex.  Where  the  lines  are  worn  away  or  mutilated 
the  MS.  may  supplement  them  : — 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA 


215 


Northumbrian  version  on  the  Cross. 

Girded  Him  then 

God  Almighty 
When  He  would 
Step  on  the  gallows 
Fore  all  Mankind 
Mindfast,  fearless 

Bow  me  durst  I  not 


Rich  King  heaving 

The  Lord  of  Light-realms 

Lean  me  I  durst  not 

Us    both    they  basely    mockt    and 

handled 

Was  I  there  with  blood  bedabbled 
Gushing  grievous  from  .  .  . 


Christ  was  on  Rood-tree 
But  fast  from  afar 
His  friends  hurried 
Athel  to  the  Sufferer. 
Everything  I  saw. 
Sorely  was  I 
With  sorrows  harrow'd 
I  inclin'd 


South  Saxon  version  according  to  the 
Vercelli  Codex. 

For  the   grapple  then    girded  him 

youthful  hero — 

lo  !  the  man  was  God  Almighty. 
Strong  of  heart  and  steady-minded 
stept  he  on  the  lofty  gallows  ; 
fearless  spite  that  crowd  of  faces  ; 
free  and  save  man's  tribes  he  would 

there. 
Bever'd  I  and  shook  when  that  baron 

claspt  me 

but  dar'd  I  not  to  bow  me  earthward 
Rood  was  I  reared  now. 
Rich  king  heaving 
The  Lord  of  Light-realms 
Lean  me  I  durst  not. 
Us    both    they    basely    mockt    and 

handled 

all  with  blood  was  I  bedabbled 
gushing  grievous  from  his  dear  side, 
when  his  ghost  he  had  uprendered. 
How  on  that  hill 
have  I  throwed 
dole  the  direst. 
All  day  viewed  I  hanging 
the  God  of  hosts 
Gloomy  and  swarthy 
clouds  had  cover'd 
the  corse  of  the  Waldend.1 
O'er  the  sheer  shine-path 
shadows  fell  heavy 
wan  'neath  the  nelkin 
wept  all  creation 
wail'd  the  fall  of  their  king. 
Christ  was  on  Rood -tree 
But  fast  from  afar 
his  friends  hurried 
To  aid  their  Atheling 
Everything  I  saw. 
Sorely  was  I 
with  sorrows  harrow'd 
yet  humbly  I  inclin'd 
to  the  hands  of  his  servants, 


Wielder,  Lord,  Ruler,  Monarch, 


216  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

striving  with  might  to  aid  them. 

Straight  the  all-ruling  God    they've 

taken 

.        .        .        .-       ,.   ^jv      .        .       heaving  from  that  haried  torment : 
t'      .        .  :     .,       .        .     •   .        .      Those  Hilde-rinks1  now  left  me 
.        .        ».,•:..•*,•<       .       .•      to  stand  there  streaming  with  blood- 
drops  ; 

With  streals  all  wounded  with  streals2  was  I  all  wounded. 

Down  laid  they  Him  limb-weary  Down  laid  they  him  limb-weary, 

O'er  His  lifeless   Head  then  stood    O'er    his  lifeless  head    then    stood 

they  they, 

Heavily  gazing  at  Heaven's  .  .  .  heavily  gazing  at  heaven's  Chieftain. 

Kemble's  rendering  of  the  poem,  wonderfully  correct  and 
conscientious  as  a  translation,  is  inferior  in  poetical  merit  to  that 
of  Stephens,  who,  as  we  see,  instead  of  choosing  modern  words, 
is  careful  to  retain  many  of  the  picturesque  old  rune  equivalents. 
This  we  perceive  at  once  if  we  compare  Stephens'  four  lines, 
beginning  "  Christ  was  on  Rood  tree  "  with  Kemble's  : — 

"  Christ  was  on  the  Cross 
but  thither  hastening 
men  came  from  afar 
to  the  noble  one."  3 

The  runes  are  sharply  and  beautifully  cut  into  the  margin  of 
two  sides  of  the  Cross,  the  inside  spaces  being  filled  with 
sculptured  ornaments,  representing  a  conventional,  clambering 
vine,  with  leaves  and  fruit.  Entwined  among  the  leaves  are 
curious  birds  and  animals  devouring  the  grapes.  On  the  south- 
east and  south-west  sides  are  figures  taken  chiefly  from  the 
Bible,  with  Latin  inscriptions  instead  of  runes.  In  the  middle 
compartment  of  each  of  these  sides  is  the  figure  of  our  Lord 
with  a  cruciform  halo.  On  the  south-west  side  of  the  Cross  He 
is  represented  as  treading  on  the  heads  of  two  swine,  His  right 
arm  upraised  in  blessing,  a  scroll  being  in  His  left  hand. 

1  Hero,  from  Hilde  the  war  god.     Battle  brave,  captain 
a  Anything  strown  or  cast — a  missile  of  any  kind. 
*  Poetry  of  the  Vercelli  Codex. 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA  217 

Around  the  margin  is  a  legend  in  old  Latin  uncial  letters, 
"  Jesus  Christ  the  Judge  of  equity.  Beasts  and  dragons  knew 
in  the  desert  the  Saviour  of  the  world." 

In  the  corresponding  panel  on  the  south  side,  St  Mary 
Magdalen  washes  the  feet  of  our  Lord,  who  is  standing  nearly 
in  the  same  position.  The  remaining  subjects  are — a  figure 
which  has  been  sometimes  described  as  that  of  the  Eternal 
Father,  and  again  as  St  John  the  Baptist,  with  the  Agnus  Dei ; 
St  Paul  and  St  Anthony  breaking  a  loaf  in  the  desert ;  the 
Flight  into  Egypt ;  two  figures  unexplained  ;  a  man  seated  on 
the  ground  with  a  bow,  taking  aim  ;  the  Visitation ;  our  Lord 
healing  the  man  born  blind ;  the  Annunciation ;  and  traces 
almost  obliterated,  of  the  Crucifixion,  on  the  bottom  panel  of 
the  south-west  side. 

On  the  top  stone  is  a  bird,  probably  meant  for  a  dove, 
resting  on  a  branch  with  the  rune  which  Stephens  took  to  be 
Cadmon  M<z  Pawed.  On  the  reverse  side  of  this  stone  are  St 
John  and  his  eagle,  with  a  partly  destroyed  Latin  inscription, 
In  princ'ipio  erat  verbum.  All  the  subjects  are  explained  by  a 
legend  running  round  the  margin,  but  which  is  in  parts  scarcely 
legible. 

Sir  John  Sinclair,  in  his  account  of  the  parish  of  Ruthwell, 
mentions  a  tradition,  according  to  which,  this  column  having 
been  set  up  in  remote  times  at  a  place  called  Priestwoodside 
(now  Priestside),  near  the  sea,  it  was  drawn  from  thence  by  a 
team  of  oxen  belonging  to  a  widow.  During  the  transit  inland 
the  chain  broke,  which  accident  was  supposed  to  denote  that 
heaven  willed  it  to  be  set  up  in  that  place.  This  was  done,  and 
a  church  was  built  over  the  Cross. 

But  opposed  to  this  story  is  the  fact  that  the  obelisk  is 
composed  of  the  same  red  and  grey  sandstone  which  abounds 
in  that  part  of  Dumfriesshire,  and  it  seems  far  more  likely  that 
the  Cross  was  here  hewn  and  sculptured  than  that  it  should 
have  been  brought  from  a  distance  after  having  been  adorned 
Jn  so  costly  a  manner  and  with  a  definite  purpose.  It  was  held 


218  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

in  great  veneration  till  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
being  specially  protected  by  the  powerful  family  of  Murray  of 
Cockpool,  the  patrons  and  chief  proprietors  of  the  parish,  it 
escaped  the  blind  fury  of  the  iconoclasts  till  1644.  Then, 
however,  it  was  broken  into  three  pieces  as  "  an  object  of 
superstition  among  the  vulgar." 

For  more  than  a  century  the  column  apparently  lay  where 
it  fell,  on  the  site  of  what  had  once  been  the  altar  of  the  church, 
and  was  made  to  serve  as  a  bench  for  members  of  the  congre- 
gation to  sit  upon. 

In  1722,  Pennant  saw  it  still  lying  inside  the  church, 
but  soon  after  this,  better  accommodation  being  required  for 
the  congregation,  it  was  turned  out  into  the  churchyard  to 
make  room  for  modern  improvements !  Here  it  suffered 
greatly  from  repeated  mutilations,  the  churchyard  being  then 
nearly  unenclosed. 

In  1802,  the  weather-cock  of  opinion  having  again  veered 
round,  the  then  incumbent,  Dr  Duncan,  desiring  to  preserve 
this  "object  of  superstition,"  now  become  a  precious  relic, 
had  the  main  shaft  removed  to  his  newly-enclosed  manse 
garden  where  it  remained  till  1887,  when  an  apse  being 
added  to  the  church,  the  Cross  was  again  enclosed  within  the 
building.  Meanwhile  two  other  fragments  had  entirely  dis- 
appeared. The  cross-beam  has  never  been  recovered,1  but 
the  top  -  stone  suddenly  reappeared  in  the  following  curious 
manner : — 

A  poor  man  and  his  wife  having  died  within  a  few  days  of 
each  other,  it  was  decided  to  bury  them  both  in  one  grave. 
For  this  it  was  necessary  to  dig  deeper  than  usual,  and  in 
doing  so,  the  grave-digger  came  upon  an  obstacle  which  proved 
to  be  a  block  of  red  sandstone  with  sculptured  figures  upon  it. 
This  block  was  found  to  be  the  missing  top-stone  of  the 
Cross. 

1  Transverse  arms  were  supplied  in  1823.     A.  S.  Cook,   The  Dream  of 
the  Rood, 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBRIA  219 

One  point  still  needs  explanation.  When  Pennant  saw  the 
Cross  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  before  the 
buried  fragment  had  been  excavated,  it  measured  20  feet 
in  height.  At  the  present  day,  although  the  top  has  been 
replaced,  the  height  of  the  column  does  not  exceed  17  feet 
6  inches,  a  circumstance  that  can  only  be  accounted  for 
by  the  supposition  that  the  obelisk  may  have  sunk  several  feet 
into  the  ground  in  the  interval. 

The  spirit  that  breathes  in  The  Dream  of  the  Rood  is  strongly 
imbued  with  national  elements.  The  doctrine  and  sentiments 
are  strictly  Catholic,  but  the  poem  is  at  the  same  time  an 
epitome  of  what  St  Cuthbert  and  the  monks  of  Lindisfarne,  the 
royal  Abbess  Hilda,  Caedmon,  and  now  it  appears  Cynewulf 
also  had  been  long  doing  for  Northumbria,  in  taking  what  was 
grand  and  heroic  in  the  old  heathen  traditions,  and  leading  up 
through  them  to  Christianity.  But  if  this  influence  can  be 
distinctly  traced  in  the  runes  on  the  Ruthwell  Cross,  yet  another 
element  is  seen  in  its  ornamentation,  which  carries  us  back  to 
the  Christian  tombs  in  the  Roman  catacombs  where  its  proto- 
types are  to  be  found. 

On  the  Bewcastle  Cross  there  is  less  of  the  national  element 
and  more  of  the  Roman,  fewer  runes  and  more  of  this  kind  of 
sculpture.  A  few  feet  from  the  parish  church,  and  within  the 
precincts  of  a  large  Roman  station,  guarded  by  a  double  vallum, 
stands  the  shaft  of  what  was  formerly  an  Anglo-Saxon  funeral 
cross  of  most  graceful  shape  and  design.  This  column,  14  feet 
in  height,  is  quadrangular,  and  formed  of  one  entire  block 
of  grey  freestone,  inserted  in  a  broader  base  of  blue  stone. 
The  side  facing  westward  has  suffered  most  from  storm  and 
rain.  It  bears  on  its  surface  two  sculptured  figures,  and  the 
principal  runic  inscription.  The  lower  figure,  that  representing 
our  Lord,  has  been  much  mutilated  by  accident  or  design.  He 
stands  as  He  is  seen  on  the  Ruthwell  Cross,  with  His  feet  on  the 
heads  of  swine,  as  trampling  down  all  unclean  things.  His 
right  hand  is  uplifted  in  blessing,  in  His  left  hand  is  a  scroll. 


220  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Above  is  St  John  the  Baptist  holding  the  Agnus  Dei,  and  near 
the  top  are  the  remains  of  the  Latin  word  Christus. 
The  runic  inscription  has  been  translated  thus : 

"  This  slender  sign-beacon 
set  was  by  Hwoetred, 
Wothgar,  Olufwolth, 
after  Alcfrith 
Once  King 
eke  son  of  Oswin 
Bid  (pray)  for  the  high  sin  of  his  soul." 

Beneath  these  runes  is  the  figure  of  a  man  in  a  long  robe 
with  a  hood  over  his  head,  and  a  bird,  probably  a  falcon,  on  his 
left  wrist  This  figure  is  supposed  to  represent  Alcfrid  himself. 
Immediately  below  the  falcon  is  an  upright  piece  of  wood  with 
a  transverse  bar  at  the  top,  possibly  meant  for  the  bird's  perch. 
On  the  east  side  there  are  no  runes,  but  a  vine  is  sculptured  in 
low  relief  within  a  border.  Dr  Haigh  observed  that  the  design 
on  this  side  was  the  same  as  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Ruthwell 
Cross.1  The  north  and  the  south  sides  are  in  a  state  of  good 
preservation,  and  are  covered  with  a  beautiful  design  in  knot- 
work,  and  alternate  lines  of  foliage,  flowers,  and  fruit.  On  the 
north  side  there  is  a  long  panel  fitted  with  chequers,  which  have 
given  rise  to  a  good  deal  of  controversy  among  antiquaries. 
Camden  thought  them  to  be  the  arms  of  the  De  Vaux  family, 
and  when  this  theory  was  exploded,  Mr  Howard  of  Corby 
Castle  reversed  it,  and  suggested  that  the  chequers  on  the  De 
Vaux  arms  were  taken  from  this  monument  But  the  Rev. 
John  Maughan,  B.A.,  rector  of  Bewcastle,  in  a  note  to  his  tract 
on  this  place,  cites  instances  of  chequers  or  diaper-work  in 
Scythian,  Egyptian,  Gallic,  and  Roman  art,  and  proves  from 
the  Book  of  Kings  that  there  were  "  nets  of  chequered  work  " 
in  the  Temple  of  Solomon.  After  remarking  that  this  is  a 
natural  form  of  ornamentation  he  calls  attention  to  the  frequent 
use  made  of  it  in  mediaeval  illuminations.2 

1  Archaologia  Aeliana,  p.  169. 

2  Arckaologtcal  Journal,  vol.  xi. 


THE  RUNIC  CROSSES  OF  NORTHUMBR1A  221 

Above  this  panel  are  the  words  "  Myrcna  Kiing,"  and  over 
the  next  piece  of  knot-work  is  seen  the  name  "Wulfhere" 
(King  of  the  Mercians).  Then  follows  another  vine,  and  above 
all  are  three  crosses  and  the  holy  name  "  Jesus."  On  the  south 
side  runs  a  runic  inscription  thus : — 

"In  the  first  year 
of  the  King 
of  ric  (realm)  this 
Ecgfrith," 

The  last  line  of  the  inscription  is  so  broken  that  it  can  only 
be  guessed  at1 

Fine  as  this  obelisk  is,  we  should  be  at  a  loss  to  make  out 
that  it  was  ever  a  cross,  but  for  a  slip  of  paper  which  was  found 
in  Camden's  own  copy  of  his  Britannia  (ed.  1607),  now  in  the 
Bodleian  Library.  On  the  slip  of  paper  was  written  this 
memorandum :  "  I  received  this  morning  a  ston  from  my  lord 
of  Arundel,  sent  him  from  my  lord  William.  It  was  the  head 
of  a  cross  at  Bucastle  :  and  the  letters  legable  are  these  on  one 
line,  and  I  have  sett  to  them  such  as  I  can  gather  out  of  my 
alphabetts  :  that  like  an  A  I  can  find  in  non.  But  wither  this 
may  be  only  letters  or  words  I  somewhat  doubt" 

Neither  Camden  nor  any  one  else  got  much  further  than 
this  for  many  years ;  and  the  general  ignorance  of  runes  is  the 
more  to  be  deplored  since  it  led  to  a  carelessness  and  want  of 
interest  in  the  preservation  of  priceless  relics,  even  among 
antiquaries.  The  stone  which  thus  came  into  Camden's  posses- 
sion has  utterly  disappeared,  and  the  inscription  which  he  tried 
in  vain  to  decipher,  and  which  might  have  thrown  light  on  a 
mysterious  subject,  is  thus  lost  to  us. 

In  conclusion,  we  may,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  recapitulate, 
first :  that  although  there  can  no  longer  be  any  reasonable 
doubt  that  the  runes  on  the  Ruthwell  obelisk  are  by  the 
Northumbrian  poet,  Cynewulf,  it  has  by  no  means  been 

1  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland  Antiquarian  and  Archaeological 
Society.  Bewcastle  and  its  Cross,  by  W.  Nanson,  p.  215. 


222  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

satisfactorily  proved  that  these  runes  are  of  a  subsequent  date 
to  the  West-Saxon  version  of  the  poem  in  the  Vercelli  Codex, 
but  that  probability  seems  rather  to  point  to  an  earlier 
date  than  the  second  half  of  the  tenth  century ;  and  secondly, 
that  so  close  a  resemblance  between  the  two  Crosses  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  they  date  from  absolutely  the  same 
period.  The  royal  obelisk  at  Bewcastle  must  have  been  a 
famous  monument  in  its  day,  known  and  celebrated  far  and 
wide,  and  it  would  not  be  unlikely  that  even  a  hundred  years 
later  it  might  be  called  upon  to  serve,  to  some  extent,  as  a 
model  for  that  Cross  which  was  to  immortalise  the  Dream  of 
which  Northumbrians  were  naturally  proud.  If,  however,  the 
runes  on  the  Bewcastle  Cross  fix  its  date  as  the  latter  part  of 
the  seventh  century,  those  on  the  Ruthwell  Cross  cannot  be 
earlier  than  the  eighth  century. 

Had  the  zeal,  directed  nearly  four  hundred  years  ago  against 
our  national  treasures,  been  bestowed  on  their  preservation,  we 
should  have  reason  indeed  to  congratulate  ourselves  on  the 
beauty  of  many  of  our  public  monuments.  Instead  of  mutilated 
remains,  we  should  have  works  of  art  which,  but  for  the  gentle 
hand  of  time,  would  be  as  perfect  as  when  they  left  the  master's 
hand. 

But  there  has  never  been  a  period  when  the  intelligent 
study  of  the  past,  whether  in  palaeography,  philology,  or  history, 
has  been  so  highly  cultivated  as  in  the  present  day.  If  we  have 
lost  the  inspiration  that  creates,  we  have,  at  least,  learned  to 
venerate  and  cherish  the  noble  works  of  our  progenitors. 


II 

A  MISSING  PAGE  FROM  THE  IDYLLS  OF 
THE  KING 

ALTHOUGH  the  Morte  cf  Arthur  was  one  of  the  first  books 
printed  in  the  English  language,  the  great  semi-historical 
figure  of  Arthur,  together  with  his  Knights  of  the  Round  Table, 
and  all  their  romantic  exploits,  had  well-nigh  died  out  of  the 
memory  of  the  English  people  when  Tennyson  published  his 
Idylls  of  the  King. 

The  Morte  d 'Arthur  was  translated,  according  to  Caxton, 
by  Sir  Thomas  Malory,  who  took  it  "out  of  certain  books  of 
French  and  reduced  it  into  English."  But  it  is  no  mere 
translation  of  the  older  romances,  which  Malory  rather 
adopted  as  the  basis  of  his  work,  moulding  them  to  suit  his 
more  refined  taste  and  fancy,  much  as  Chaucer  used 
Boccaccio's  tales,  and  Shakespeare  a  century  after  Malory 
adopted  the  plots  and  outlines  of  inferior  playwrights. 

Placed  midway  between  the  works  of  Chaucer  and  Shake- 
speare, the  book,  which  has  been  aptly  described  as  a  prose- 
poem,  is  one  of  the  happiest  illustrations  possible  of  the 
language,  manners,  modes  of  thought  and  expression  prevalent 
in  England  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Chivalry  was  not  yet  dead, 
ideals  were  still  cherished,  the  feudal  system  still  obtained, 
Gothic  architecture  had  not  yet  said  its  last  word,  Englishmen 
were  papal  to  the  backbone,  and  religion  was  a  potent  factor 
in  their  lives,  in  spite  of  much  that  was  harsh,  crude,  and 

223 


224  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

violent  "  Herein,"  said  Caxton,  "  may  be  seen  noble  chivalry, 
courtesy,  humanity,  friendliness,  hardiness,  love,  friendship, 
cowardice,  murder,  hate,  virtue,  sin.  Do  after  the  good,  and 
leave  the  evil,  and  it  shall  bring  you  to  good  fame  and 
renomm^e." 

The  Morte  d1  Arthur  was  finished  in  the  ninth  year  of 
Edward  IV.,  that  is  in  1470,  and  Caxton  printed  the  first 
edition  of  the  book  in  black  letter,  in  1485.  Of  this  edition, 
now  almost  priceless,  only  two  copies  are  known  to  exist, 
both  of  which  are  in  private  collections.  One  of  these  is  in 
the  United  States,  the  other,  slightly  defective,  is  in  the 
possession  of  Lord  Spencer,  who  has  also  in  his  library  at 
Althorp  the  only  known  copy  of  the  second  edition,  printed 
in  1498  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  who  took  over  Caxton's 
presses  at  his  death.  Of  the  third  edition  (1529),  also  printed 
by  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  a  copy  is  in  the  British  Museum.  It 
is  incomplete  inasmuch  as  the  title,  preface,  and  part  of  the 
table  of  contents  are  wanting. 

The  British  Museum  possesses  two  other  copies,  one 
printed  by  William  Copland  in  1557,  the  other  a  folio  without 
date,  published  by  East  All  these  editions  are  in  black 
letter. 

Whether  we  agree  with  Caxton  that  "  it  might  full  well 
be  aretted  great  folly  and  blindness  to  say  or  think  that 
there  was  never  such  a  king  called  Arthur,"  or  whether  we 
are  of  those  "divers  men  who  hold  opinion  that  all  such 
books  as  be  made  of  him  be  but  fayne  matters  and  fables, 
because  that  some  chronicles  make  of  him  no  mention,  nor 
remember  him  nothing,  nor  of  his  knights,"  we  must  admit 
that  at  least  incidentally,  the  Morte  d  Arthur  is  a  picture  of 
British  faith  and  pious  practices.  Its  composition  is  mediaeval, 
and  represents  the  tone  of  thought  common  in  the  world 
as  distinct  from  the  cloister,  in  the  Middle  Ages  ;  but  it  is 
also  a  true  exponent  of  an  earlier  period  still,  when  Lucius, 
the  British  chief,  sent  messengers  to  Rome  to  beg  Pope 


A  MISSING  PAGE  225 

Eleutherius  to  admit  him  into  the  Fold  of  Christ,  and  to  send 
missionaries  to  instruct  his  people  in  the  Faith.  Comparing 
the  Idylls  of  the  King  with  Malory's  book,  we  are  irre- 
sistibly reminded  of  certain  Catholic  books  of  devotion  "  expur- 
gated "  or  "  adapted  "  for  members  of  the  Church  of  England. 
All  that  savours  too  much  of  popery  is  left  out.  There  is,  no 
doubt,  a  strong  Protestant  prejudice  in  Tennyson,  struggling 
with  his  sense  of  artistic  beauty,  and  repeatedly  Protestantism 
wins  the  day.  We  cannot  always  quarrel  with  him  for  his 
selection,  because,  although  the  modern  mind  is  not  a  whit 
cleaner  than  the  mediaeval  mind,  there  is  an  unwritten  conven- 
tion, that  at  all  events  a  spade  shall  not  now  be  called  a  spade, 
at  least  in  polite  society,  and  Tennyson  wrote  exclusively  for 
the  polite.  In  the  Middle  Ages  evil  was  spoken  of  plainly 
as  in  Scripture ;  there  was  no  blinking  of  facts,  no  dressing-up 
of  vice  to  make  it  look  like  virtue,  and  consequently  much 
"  bowdlerising "  was  necessary  before  Malory's  outspoken 
language  should  be  sufficiently  veiled  to  suit  the  suscepti- 
bilities, to  which  we  have  a  perfect  and  legitimate  right  in  so 
far  as  they  are  genuine,  and  no  cloak  for  an  hypocrisy  that 
delights  in  the  loathsome  indecencies  and  disgusting  sugges- 
tiveness  of  the  modern  problem  novel. 

But  what  we  do  regret  is  that  apart  from  the  coarseness, 
and  even  from  a  mere  dramatic  point  of  view,  much  that 
Tennyson  rejected  is  finer  than  anything  he  took.  His 
Lancelot  is  a  grand  conception,  as  mournfully,  but  with  noble 
self-abasement,  he  says  : — 

" ....  in  me  there  dwells 
No  greatness,  save  it  be  some  far-off  touch 
Of  greatness  to  know  well  I  am  not  great." 

He  is  the  very  knight  of  courtesy,  in  chivalry  above  all 
other  knights  save  Arthur — so  strong  that  "whom  he  smote 
he  overthrew  "  ;  he  is  brave,  noble,  scornful,  and  "  falsely  true,' 
but  he  is  not  the  Lancelot  of  the  Morte  cf Arthur. 

P 


226  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

The  story  of  Lancelot  is  incomplete  in  the  Idylls,  and  by 
incompleteness  we  do  not  mean  only  that  it  is  deprived  of 
its  denouement,  of  the  climax  up  to  which  it  has  been  work- 
ing from  the  beginning,  but  that  there  is  also  to  be  noted 
the  conspicuous  absence  of  a  refrain  that  should  be  there 
throughout.  It  is  true  that  at  the  end  of  "Lancelot  and 
Elaine,"  one  single  line  hints  vaguely  at  the  penance 
that  was  to  atone  for  his  sad  and  sin-stained  life,  where  he  is 
described  as 

"  Not  knowing  he  should  die  a  holy  man." 

And  in  another  place  the  long  account  of  his  confession, 
absolution,  contrition,  and  the  exhortation  of  the  priest  is 
slurred  over  in  these  words  relating  to  the  poisonous  weeds 
that  twined  and  clung  round  the  wholesome  flowers  of  his 
life  :— 

"  Then  I  spake 

To  one  most  holy  saint,  who  wept  and  said 
That  save  they  could  be  plucked  asunder  all 
My  quest  were  but  in  vain  ;  to  whom  I  vowed 
That  I  would  work  according  as  he  willed." 

If  we  compare  this  with  what  Malory  said,  we  shall  see 
the  total  inadequacy  of  Tennyson's  treatment  of  the  episode 
which  left  out  the  whole  root  of  the  matter : — 

How  Sir  Lancelot  was  shriven,  and  what  sorrow  he  made, 
and  of  the  good  examples  that  were  showed  him. 

Then  Sir  Lancelot  wept  with  heavy  cheer  and  said,  "  Now 
I  know  well  ye  say  me  sooth."  "  Sir,"  said  the  good  man, "  hide 
none  old  sin  from  me."  "  Truly,"  said  Sir  Lancelot,  "  that  were 
me  full  loth  to  discover.  For  this  fourteen  years  I  never 
discovered  one  thing  that  I  have  used  and  to  that  may  I  now 
blame  my  shame  and  my  misadventure."  And  then  he  told 
there,  that  good  man,  all  his  life,  and  how  he  had  loved  a 
queen  unmeasurably,  and  out  of  measure  long ; — "  and  all  my 
great  deeds  of  arms  that  I  have  done  I  did  the  most  part  for 


A  MISSING  PAGE  227 

the  queen's  sake,  and  for  her  sake  would  I  do  battle,  were  it 
right  or  wrong,  and  never  did  I  battle  all  only  for  God's 
sake,  but  for  to  win  worship  and  to  cause  me  to  be  the 
better  beloved,  and  little  or  nought  I  thanked  God  of  it." 
Then  Sir  Lancelot  said,  "  I  pray  you  counsel  me."  "  I  will 
counsel  you,"  said  the  hermit,  "  if  ye  will  ensure  me  that  ye 
will  never  come  in  that  queen's  fellowship,  as  much  as  ye 
may  forbare."  And  then  Sir  Lancelot  promised  him  he  would 
not,  by  the  faith  of  his  body.  "  Look  that  your  heart  and 
your  mouth  accord,"  said  the  good  man,  "and  I  shall  ensure 
you  ye  shall  have  more  worship  than  ever  ye  had."  .  .  .  Then 
the  good  man  enjoined  Sir  Lancelot  such  penance  as  he 
might  do,  and  to  sue  knighthood,  and  so  he  assoiled  him, 
and  prayed  Sir  Lancelot  to  abide  with  him  all  that  day. 
"  I  will  well,"  said  Sir  Lancelot, "  for  I  have  neither  helm,  nor 
horse,  nor  sword."  "  As  for  that,"  said  the  good  man,  "  I 
shall  help  you  to-morn  at  even  of  an  horse  and  all  that 
longeth  unto  you."  And  then  Sir  Lancelot  repented  him 
greatly. 

After  this  he  meets  with  another  hermit  who  gives  him  a 
hair  shirt  to  wear  as  a  penance,  and  riding  on  in  pursuit  of 
his  quest,  the  Holy  Grail,  Lancelot  next  comes  to  a  Cross,  "  and 
took  that  for  his  host  as  for  that  night.  And  so  he  put  his 
horse  to  pasture,  and  did  off  his  helm  and  his  shield,  and  made 
his  prayers  unto  the  Cross  that  he  never  fall  in  deadly  sin 
again.  And  so  he  laid  him  down  to  sleep."  Further  on,  we 
are  told,  as  a  sign  of  his  sincerity  and  perseverance  that  "  the 
hair  pricked  so  Sir  Lancelot's  skin  that  it  grieved  him  full 
sore,  but  he  took  it  meekly  and  suffered  the  pain." 

Tennyson  records  no  fights  with  conscience,  no  turning 
towards  the  light,  no  sorrowful  confessions  at  all.  He  has 
given  us  a  great  deal,  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
what  he  rejected,  a  Catholic  poet  would  have  seized  with 
delight  as  the  purplest  patches  of  his  epic,  and  the  climax  to 
which  the  whole  story  led. 


228  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

The  same  remarks  do  not  altogether  apply  to  Tennyson's 
conception  of  Arthur's  character.  Although  there  is  much 
that  is  fine  and  beautiful  in  him,  as  he  is  portrayed  in  the 
older  legends,  although,  when  pierced  with  many  wounds,  he 
fought  on  valiantly,  because  he  was  "  so  full  of  knighthood 
that  knightly  he  endured  the  pain,"  it  is  Tennyson  who  has 
exalted  him  into  "  the  blameless  king,"  4<  the  highest  creature 
here,"  and  if  it  had  only  been  for  what  he  has  given  us  in 
King  Arthur,  the  Idylls  would  have  been  worth  writing. 
Still  even  here  he  leaves  out  all  those  Catholic  touches  which 
went  to  make  up  the  life  and  soul  of  British  Christianity,  the 
custom  of  beginning  each  day  with  the  hearing  of  Mass, 
the  frequent  allusions  to  the  Pope  as  the  Head  of  Christen- 
dom, the  mention  of  prayers  for  the  dead,  of  penance,  and 
so  on. 

When  Arthur  had  defied  the  Roman  Emperor,  who  had 
sent  to  claim  tribute,  and  had  carried  his  victorious  arms  to 
the  gates  of  the  Eternal  City,  the  legend  says  that  senators 
and  cardinals  came  out  and  sued  for  peace.  They  invited 
him  in,  and  there  he  was  crowned  emperor  "with  all  the 
solemnity  that  could  be  made,  and  by  the  Pope's  own 
hands."  King  Mark  of  Cornwall,  for  reasons  of  his  own, 
wanted  to  rid  himself  of  Tristram,  and  set  about  it  in  this  wily 
manner : — 

He  let  do  counterfeit  letters  from  the  Pope,  and  made 
a  strange  clerk  for  to  bear  them  unto  King  Mark,  the 
which  letters  specified  that  King  Mark  should  make  him 
ready  upon  pain  of  cursing,  with  his  host  for  to  come  to  the 
Pope,  to  help  to  go  to  Jerusalem  for  to  make  war  upon  the 
Saracens. 

Mark,  pretending  that  he  could  not  leave  home,  proposed 
that  Sir  Tristram  should  go  in  his  place,  since  the  command  of 
the  Pope  must  be  obeyed.  "  But,"  said  Sir  Tristram,  "  sythen 
the  apostle  Pope  hath  sent  for  him,  bid  him  go  thither  himself." 
"Well,"  said  King  Mark,  "yet  shall  he  be  beguiled,"  and 


A  MISSING  PAGE  229 

counterfeited  other  letters,  and  the  letters  specified  that  the 
Pope  desired  Sir  Tristram  to  come  himself  to  make  war  upon 
the  Saracens.  But  Tristram  began  to  suspect  the  King  of 
Cornwall  of  treachery,  and  at  last  Mark  was  obliged  to  walk 
into  the  trap  which  he  had  set  for  his  enemy,  and  to  take  an 
oath  "  that  he  would  go  himself  unto  the  Pope  of  Rome  for  to 
war  upon  the  Saracens." 

Malory's  book  abounds  in  such  illustrations  and  side  lights 
as  these,  but  enough  has  been  said  to  show  how  entirely  the 
modern  poet  has  suppressed  the  part  played  by  the  Pope 
in  the  lives  of  Englishmen,  at  least,  up  to  the  time  of 
Edward  IV. 

One  other  instance  of  this  pre-reformation  doctrine  belongs 
to  the  story  of  Lancelot,  and  will  be  given  in  its  proper  place. 
We  may  remark  here  that  whatever  the  shortcomings  of  some 
of  Arthur's  knights,  they  one  and  all  evinced  a  lively  faith, 
profound  veneration  for  holy  things,  and  a  truly  Catholic 
desire  for  reconciliation  with  God,  through  the  reception  of 
the  Sacraments,  whenever  they  fell  into  sin.  Thus,  the 
knights  who  were  convened  to  assist  at  Arthur's  coronation 
"made  them  clean  of  their  lives,  that  their  prayers  might  be 
the  more  acceptable  unto  God."  And  when  Balan  fought 
with  his  brother,  Balyn,  by  mistake,  and  both  were  mortally 
wounded,  Balan  entreated  the  lady  of  the  Tower  to  send  for 
a  priest :  "  Yea,"  said  the  lady,  "  it  shall  be  done,"  and  so  she 
sent  for  a  priest  to  give  them  their  rights.  "  Now,"  said  Balyn, 
"  when  we  are  buried  in  one  tomb,  and  the  mention  made  over 
us  how  two  brethren  slew  each  other,  there  will  never  good 
knight  nor  good  man  see  our  tomb  but  they  will  pray  for 
our  souls." 

Wherever  the  knights-errant  slept,  they  never  set  out  on 
their  journey  on  the  morrow  without  first  hearing  Mass ;  and 
if  they  had  been  riding  all  night  and  came  to  a  chapel  in  the 
morning  they  "  avoided  their  horses  and  heard  Mass."  There 
are  many  allusions  to  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  on 


230  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

one  occasion   a   tournament  was  proclaimed  in  honour  of  her 
Assumption. 

In  the  poem  "  Lancelot  and  Elaine,"  Tennyson  has  followed 
closely  on  the  lines  of  the  original  story,  both  as  to  general 
design  and  detail.  The  idyll  "  Geraint  and  Enid "  does  not, 
of  course,  belong  to  this  history  at  all,  but  is  taken  from  the 
"  Mabinogian,"  a  collection  of  Welsh  legends  translated  into 
English  by  Lady  Charlotte  Elizabeth  Guest. 

The  "  Coming  of  Arthur,"  as  related  in  the  idyll,  is  through- 
out an  invention  of  Tennyson's,  or  culled  from  other  sources, 
and  differs  entirely  from  the  story  of  Arthur's  origin  as  told 
by  Malory. 

But  the  legend  that  has  suffered  the  most  from  poetical 
license  is  that  of  the  "  Holy  Grail." 

When  the  young  Galahad,  Lancelot's  son,  had  been  brought 
to  Arthur's  court,  had  been  dubbed  knight,  and  had  sat  in  the 
mystical  "  siege  perilous,"  fashioned  by  the  wizard  Merlin,  he 
drew  the  sword  from  the  magic  stone  that  hovered  over  the 
water,  and  which  no  other  knight  could  take.  Then  the  queen, 
hearing  of  these  marvels,  and  of  his  great  exploits  and  chivalry, 
desired  greatly  to  see  Sir  Galahad,  and  as  he  was  riding  by, 
"  the  king,  at  the  queen's  request,  made  him  to  alight  and  to 
unlace  his  helm,  that  Queen  Guinevere  might  see  him  in  the 
visage.  And  when  she  beheld  him  she  said :  Sothely, 
I  dare  well  say  that  Sir  Lancelot  begat  him,  for  never  two 
men  resembled  more  in  likeness.  Therefore  it  is  no  marvel 
though  he  be  of  great  prowess.  So  a  lady  that  stood  by  the 
queen  said,  Madam,  for  God's  sake,  ought  he  of  right  to  be  so 
good  a  knight  ?  Yea,  forsooth,  said  the  queen,  for  he  is 
of  all  parties  come  of  the  best  knights  of  the  world,  and  of  the 
highest  lineage.  For  Sir  Lancelot  is  comen  of  the  eighth  degree 
from  our  Lord  Jesu  Christ,  and  Sir  Galahad  is  of  the  ninth 
degree,  therefore  I  dare  well  say  that  they  ben  the  greatest 
gentlemen  of  all  the  world." 

After  the  meeting  between  Sir  Galahad  and  the  queen,  the 


A  MISSING  PAGE  231 

book  goes  on  to  say  that  the  king  and  all  the  estates  went  home 
to  Camelot,  and  that  as  they  sat  at  Supper,  the  Holy  Grail 
appeared. 

Tennyson  relates  the  vision  almost  in  Malory's  own  words. 

Sir  Perceval,  having  retired  from  the  world,  tells  the  monk, 
Ambrosius,  the  history  of  the  quest : — 

"And  all  at  once,  as  there  we  sat,  we  heard 
A  cracking  and  a  riving  of  the  roofs, 
And  rending,  and  a  blast,  and  overhead 
Thunder,  and  in  the  thunder  was  a  cry. 
And  in  the  blast  there  smote  along  the  hall 
A  beam  of  light  seven  times  more  clear  than  day : 
And  down  the  long  beam  stole  the  Holy  Grail, 
All  over  covered  with  a  luminous  cloud, 
And  none  might  see  who  bare  it,  and  it  past. 
But  every  knight  beheld  his  fellow's  face. 
As  in  a  glory,  and  all  the  knights  arose, 
And  staring  each  at  other  like  dumb  men 
Stood,  till  I  found  a  voice  and  sware  a  vow. 
I  sware  a  vow  before  them  all  that  I, 
Because  I  had  not  seen  the  Grail  would  ride 
A  twelvemonth  and  a  day  in  quest  of  it, 
Until  I  found  and  saw  it,  as  the  nun 
My  sister  saw  it ;  and  Galahad  sware  the  vow, 
And  good  Sir  Bors,  our  Lancelot's  cousin  sware, 
And  Lancelot  sware,  and  many  among  the  knights, 
And  Gawayn  sware,  and  louder  than  the  rest." 

It  was,  in  fact,  Sir  Gawayn  who  spoke  first : — 
"  Certainly  [said  he]  "  we  ought  greatly  to  thank  our  Lord 
Jesu  Christ,  for  that  he  hath  shewed  us  this  day  of  what  meats 
and  drinks  we  thought  on,  but  one  thing  beguiled  us,  we  might 
not  see  the  Holy  Grail,  it  was  so  preciously  covered.  Wherefore 
I  will  make  here  a  vow,  that  to-morrow,  without  any  longer 
abiding,  I  shall  labour  in  the  quest  of  the  Sancgreall,  that  I 
shall  hold  me  out  a  twelvemonths  and  a  day,  and  more  if  need 
be,  and  never  shall  I  return  again  unto  the  court,  till  I  have 
seen  it  more  openly  than  it  hath  been  seen  here."  When  they 
of  the  Round  Table  heard  Sir  Gawayn  say  so,  they  arose,  the 
most  part  of  them,  and  avowed  the  same. 


232  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

As  the  knights  rode  out  of  Camelot  to  begin  their  quest 
there  was  weeping  of  the  rich  and  of  the  poor  at  their  departure. 
"  The  queen  made  great  moan  and  wailing,  and  the  king  might 
not  speak  for  weeping."  After  some  adventures  Sir  Perceval 
comes  to  a  chapel  to  hear  Mass,  and  there  he  sees  a  sick  king 
lying  on  a  couch  behind  the  altar ;  and  he  was  covered  with 
wounds : — 

"  Then  he  left  his  looking  and  heard  his  service,  and  when  it 
came  to  the  sacring,  he  that  lay  within  the  perclose  dressed  him 
up  and  uncovered  his  head.  And  then  him  beseemed  a  passing 
old  man,  and  he  had  a  crown  of  gold  on  his  head,  and  ever  he 
held  up  his  hands  and  said  on  high  :  Fair,  sweet  father,  Jesu 
Christ,  forget  not  me.  And  so  he  laid  him  down.  But  always 
he  was  in  his  prayers  and  orisons.  And  when  the  Mass  was 
done,  the  priest  took  our  Lord's  body  and  bare  it  unto  the  sick 
king.  And  when  he  had  received  it  he  did  off  his  crown,  and 
he  commanded  the  crown  to  be  set  on  the  altar." 

This  king's  name  was  Evelake.  He  had  been  converted  by 
Saint  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  who  was  sent  by  our  Lord  "to 
preach  and  teach  the  Christian  faith."  "  Evelake,"  says  the 
legend,  "  followed  Joseph  of  Arimathaea  into  England,  to  which 
country  he  brought  the  Holy  Grail,  the  cup  in  which  our  Lord 
celebrated  the  institution  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament"  This  cup 
or  chalice  is  said  to  have  contained  some  drops  of  the  Precious 
Blood. 

And  ever  Evelake  was  busy  to  be  there  as  the  Sancgreall 
was.  And  upon  a  time  he  nighed  it  so  nigh  that  our  Lord  was 
displeased  with  him.  But  ever  he  followed  it  more  and  more, 
till  that  God  struck  him  almost  blind.  Then  this  king  cried 
mercy,  and  said  :  "  Fair  Lord,  let  me  never  die  till  that  the 
good  knight  of  my  blood  of  the  ninth  degree  be  comen,  that  I 
may  see  him  openly,  when  he  shall  achieve  the  Sancgreall,  that 
I  may  once  kiss  him." 

This  "  good  knight  "  was,  of  course,  Sir  Galahad.  Meanwhile, 
"  Sir  Lancelot  rode  overthwart  and  endlong  in  a  wild  forest, 


A  MISSING  PAGE  233 

and  held  no  path  but  as  wild  adventure  led  him.  And  at  the 
last  he  came  to  a  stony  Cross  which  departed  two  ways  in  waste 
land,  and  by  the  Cross  was  a  stone  that  was  of  marble,  but  it 
was  so  dark  that  Sir  Lancelot  might  not  wit  what  it  was.  Then 
Sir  Lancelot  looked  by  him,  and  saw  an  old  chapel,  and  there 
he  wend  to  have  found  people.  And  Sir  Lancelot  tied  his  horse 
till  a  tree,  and  there  he  did  off  his  shield  and  hung  it  upon  a 
tree.  And  then  he  went  to  the  chapel  door,  and  found  it  waste 
and  broken.  And  within  he  found  a  fair  altar  full  richly  arrayed 
with  cloth  of  clean  silk,  and  there  stood  a  fair  clean  candlestick 
which  bare  six  great  candles,  and  the  candlestick  was  of  silver. 
And  when  Sir  Lancelot  saw  this  light  he  had  great  will  for  to 
enter  into  the  chapel,  but  he  could  find  no  place  where  he  might 
enter ;  then  was  he  passing  heavy  and  dismayed.  Then  he 
returned  and  came  to  his  horse,  and  did  off  his  saddle  and 
bridle,  and  let  him  pasture  ;  and  unlaced  his  helm,  and  ungirded 
his  sword,  and  laid  him  down  to  sleep  upon  his  shield  tofore  the 
Cross.  And  so  he  fell  on  sleep,  and  half  waking  and  half  sleep- 
ing he  saw,  come  by  him,  two  palfreys  all  fair  and  white,  the 
which  bare  a  litter,  therein  lying  a  sick  knight.  And  when  he 
was  nigh  the  Cross  he  there  abode  still.  All  this  Sir  Lancelot 
saw  and  beheld,  for  he  slept  not  verily,  and  he  heard  him  say : 
Oh  sweet  Lord,  when  shall  this  sorrow  leave  me,  and  when 
shall  the  holy  vessel  come  by  me,  wherethrough  I  shall  be 
blessed,  for  I  have  endured  thus  long  for  little  trespass.  And 
thus  a  great  while  complained  the  knight,  and  always  Sir 
Lancelot  heard  it.  With  that  Sir  Lancelot  saw  the  candlestick 
with  the  six  tapers  come  before  the  Cross,  but  he  could  see 
nobody  that  brought  it  And  then  came  a  table  of  silver,  and 
the  holy  vessel  of  the  Sancgreall,  the  which  Sir  Lancelot  had 
seen  tofore.  And  there  withal  the  sick  knight  set  him  upright 
and  held  up  both  his  hands  and  said :  Fair,  sweet  Lord,  which 
is  here  within  this  holy  vessel,  take  heed  to  me  that  I  may  be 
whole  of  this  great  malady.  And  therewith,  upon  his  hands 
and  upon  his  knees,  he  went  so  nigh  that  he  touched  the  holy 


234  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

vessel  and  kissed  it.  And  anon  he  was  whole,  and  then  he  said : 
Lord  God,  I  thank  thee  for  I  am  healed  of  this  malady.  So 
when  the  holy  vessel  had  been  there  a  great  while,  it  went  unto 
the  chapel  again  with  the  candlestick  and  the  light,  so  that  Sir 
Lancelot  wist  not  where  it  became,  for  he  was  overtaken  with 
sin  that  he  had  no  power  to  arise  against  the  holy  vessel. 
Wherefore  afterwards  many  men  said  of  him  shame.  But  he 
took  repentance  afterwards. 

"  Then  the  sick  knight  dressed  him  upright  and  kissed  the 
Cross.  Then  anon  his  squire  brought  his  arms,  and  asked  his 
lord  how  he  did.  Certes,  said  he,  I  thank  God  right  well 
through  the  holy  vessel  I  am  healed.  But  I  have  great  marvel 
of  this  sleeping  knight  which  hath  neither  had  grace  nor 
power  to  awake  during  the  time  that  this  holy  vessel  hath  been 
here  present.  I  dare  it  right  well  say,  said  the  squire,  that 
this  knight  is  defouled  with  some  manner  of  deadly  sin,  whereof 
he  was  never  confessed.  By  my  faith,  said  the  knight, 
whatsoever  he  be,  he  is  unhappy,  for,  as  I  deem,  he  is  of  the 
noble  fellowship  of  the  Round  Table,  the  which  is  entered 
into  the  quest  of  the  Sancgreall.  Sir,  said  the  squire, 
here  I  have  brought  you  all  your  arms  save  your  helm  and 
your  sword,  and  therefore,  by  mine  assent  now  may  ye  take 
this  knight's  helm  and  his  sword,  and  so  he  did.  And 
when  he  was  clean  armed  he  took  Sir  Lancelot's  horse,  for 
he  was  better  than  his  own,  and  so  they  departed  from  the 
Cross. 

"  Then  anon  Sir  Lancelot  awaked  and  sat  himself  upright, 
and  bethought  him  what  he  had  there  seen,  and  whether  it  were 
dreams  or  not.  Right  so  heard  he  a  voice  that  said,  Sir 
Lancelot,  more  harder  than  is  the  stone,  and  more  bitter  than  is 
the  wood,  and  more  naked  and  barer  than  is  the  leaf  of  the 
fig-tree,  therefore  go  thou  from  hence,  and  withdraw  thee  from 
this  holy  place.  And  when  Sir  Lancelot  heard  this  he  was 
passing  heavy  and  wist  not  what  to  do,  and  so  departed  sore 
weeping,  and  cursed  the  time  that  he  was  born.  For  then  he 


A  MISSING  PAGE  23o 

deemed  never  to  have  had  worship  more.  For  those  words 
went  to  his  heart  till  that  he  knew  wherefore  he  was 
called  so. 

"  Then  Sir  Lancelot  went  to  the  Cross,  and  found  his  helm, 
his  sword,  and  his  horse  taken  away.  And  then  he  called 
himself  a  very  wretch,  and  most  unhappy  of  all  knights.  And 
there  he  said,  My  sin  and  my  wickedness  have  brought  me 
unto  great  dishonour.  For  when  I  sought  worldly  adventures 
for  worldly  desires  I  ever  achieved  them,  and  had  the  better 
in  every  place,  and  never  was  I  discomfited  in  no  quarrel,  were 
it  right  or  wrong.  And  now  I  take  upon  me  the  adventure  of 
holy  things,  and  now  I  see  and  understand  that  mine  old  sin 
hindreth  me  and  shameth  me,  so  that  I  had  no  power  to  stir  nor 
to  speak  when  the  holy  blood  appeared  afore  me.  So  thus  he 
sorrowed  till  it  was  day,  and  heard  the  fowls  of  the  air  sing.  Then 
was  he  somewhat  comforted,  and  departed  from  the  Cross  on  foot 
in  a  wild  forest,  and  there  he  found  a  hermitage,  and  a  hermit 
therein  that  was  going  to  Mass.  And  then  Sir  Lancelot  kneeled 
down  on  both  his  knees,  and  cried  our  Lord  mercy  for  his 
wicked  works  that  he  had  done.  When  Mass  was  done,  Sir 
Lancelot  called  the  hermit  to  him  and  prayed  him  for  charity 
to  hear  his  life.  With  a  good  will,  said  the  good  man.  Sir, 
said  he,  be  ye  of  King  Arthur's  court,  and  of  the  fellowship  of 
the  Round  Table?  Yea,  forsooth,  and  my  name  is  Sir 
Lancelot  du  Lake  that  hath  been  right  well  said  of,  and  now  my 
good  fortune  is  changed,  for  I  am  the  most  wretched  and  caitiff 
of  the  world. 

"  Then  the  hermit  beheld  him,  and  had  great  marvel  how  he 
was  so  sore  abashed.  Sir,  said  the  good  man,  ye  ought  to 
thank  God  more  than  any  knight  living,  for  He  hath  caused  you 
to  have  more  worldly  worship  than  any,  and  for  your  presumption 
to  take  upon  you  in  deadly  sin  for  to  be  in  His  presence  where 
His  flesh  and  His  blood  was,  that  caused  you  ye  might  not  see 
it  with  your  worldly  eyes.  For  He  will  not  appear  where  such 
sinners  be,  but  it  be  unto  their  great  hurt  and  shame.  And 


236  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

there  is  no  knight  living  now  that  ought  to  give  unto  God  so 
great  thank  as  ye.  For  He  hath  given  to  you  beauty,  seemliness, 
and  great  strength  above  all  other  knights,  and,  therefore,  ye  are 
the  more  beholden  to  God  than  any  man,  to  love  Him  and  to 
dread  Him  ;  for  your  strength  and  manhood  will  little  avail  you, 
and  God  be  against  you." 

Then  Lancelot  makes  his  confession  to  the  hermit  as  we 
have  already  related,  is  assailed,  and  repents  him  greatly.  He 
remained  three  days  with  the  hermit,  and  being  then  newly  pro- 
vided with  a  horse,  helmet,  and  sword,  he  took  his  leave  and  rode 
away.  After  this  occurs  the  episode  at  the  Cross,  and  his 
receiving  the  hair  shirt.  On  the  morrow  he  jousted  with  many 
knights,  and  for  the  first  time  was  thrown  and  overcome,  all 
which  he  endured  patiently  as  penance  for  his  sins.  That 
night  he  laid  himself  down  to  sleep  under  an  apple-tree  and 
dreamed  a  strange  dream.  At  dawn  he  arose,  armed  himself 
and  went  on  his  way.  He  next  came  to  a  chapel  "  where  was  a 
recluse  which  had  a  window  that  she  might  look  up  to  the  altar, 
and  all  aloud  she  called  Sir  Lancelot,  and  asked  him  whence  he 
came,  what  he  was,  and  what  he  went  to  seek."  He  told  her  all 
his  dreams  and  visions,  which  she  expounded,  and  gave  him 
pious  counsel,  but  told  him  that  he  was  "  of  evil  faith  and  poor 
belief." 

About  this  time  he  met  Sir  Galahad,  and  knew  that  he 
was  his  son.  Then,  after  various  adventures,  he  came  as 
near  the  Holy  Grail  as  it  was  given  to  him  to  come.  As 
he  was  kneeling  before  a  closed  door  in  a  castle  "he 
heard  a  voice  which  sang  sweetly,  that  it  seemed  none 
earthly  thing.  And  him  thought  that  the  voice  said,  Joy 
and  Honour  be  to  the  Father  of  Heaven.  Then  Sir 
Lancelot  wist  well  that  there  was  the  Sancgreall  in  that 
chamber."  Then  he  prayed. 

"  And  with  that  the  chamber  door  opened,  and  there  came 
out  a  great  clearness,  that  the  house  was  so  bright  as  though  all 
the  torches  of  the  world  had  been  there.  And  anon  he  would 


A  MISSING  PAGE  237 

have  entered,  but  a  voice  said,  Flee,  Sir  Lancelot,  and  enter 
not,  for  and  if  thou  enter  thou  shalt  forethink  it.  Then  he 
withdrew  him  aback,  and  was  right  heavy  in  his  mind.  Then 
looked  he  up  in  the  midst  of  the  room  and  saw  a  table  of  silver, 
and  the  holy  vessel  covered  with  red  samite,  and  so  many 
angels  about  it,  whereof  one  of  them  held  a  candle  of  wax 
burning,  and  the  other  held  a  Cross  and  the  ornaments  of  the 
altar.  And  before  the  holy  vessel  he  saw  a  good  man,  clothed 
like  a  priest,  and  it  seemed  that  he  was  at  the  sacring  of  the 
Mass. 

"  And  it  seemed  unto  Sir  Lancelot  that,  above  the  priest's 
hands,  there  were  three  men,  whereof  the  two  put  the  youngest 
by  likeliness  between  the  priest's  hands,  and  so  he  lift  it 
upright  high,  and  it  seemed  to  show  unto  the  people.  And 
then  Sir  Lancelot  marvelled  not  a  little,  for  him  thought 
the  priest  was  so  greatly  charged  of  the  figure  that  him 
seemed  he  should  have  fallen  to  the  ground  ;  and  when  he 
saw  none  about  him,  he  came  to  the  door  a  great  pace,  and 
said : — 

"Fair  sweet  Father,  Jesu  Christ,  me  take  it  for  no  sin, 
though  I  help  the  good  man,  which  hath  great  need  of  help. 
Right  so  he  entered  into  the  chamber,  and  came  toward  the 
table  of  silver.  And  when  he  came  nigh  he  felt  a  breath  that 
him  thought  it  was  intermeddled  with  fire,  which  smote  him 
so  sore  in  the  visage  that  him  thought  it  all  to  brent  his 
visage." 

This  is  the  culminating  point  of  Lancelot's  quest ;  he 
swooned  away,  and  lay  as  one  dead  for  twenty-four  days. 
Nearer  he  might  not  come  to  the  Holy  Grail,  and  the  sequel 
shows  why,  for  after  a  time  he  returned  to  the  court  and  fell 
into  sin  again,  and  forgot  his  good  resolutions : — 

"  For,  as  the  French  book  saith,  had  not  Sir  Lancelot 
been  in  his  privy  thoughts  and  in  his  mind  set  inwardly 
to  the  queen,  as  he  was  in  seeming  outward  unto  God, 
there  had  no  knight  passed  him  in  the  quest  of  the  Sane- 


538  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

greall ;  but  ever  his  thoughts  were  privily  upon  the 
queen." 

But  soon  there  arose  a  bitter  quarrel  between  Lancelot 
and  Guinevere,  and  she  banished  him  from  her  sight.  During 
his  absence  from  the  court  she  made  a  dinner,  at  which  one 
of  the  guests,  Sir  Modor,  was  poisoned,  and  the  queen 
accused  of  the  crime.  Guinevere  was  therefore  impeached, 
and  so  truly  did  all  the  Round  Table  believe  in  her  guilt, 
that  at  first  no  knight  would  come  forward  to  defend 
her. 

Ultimately,  however,  the  "  good  Sir  Bors,"  Lancelot's  kins- 
man, was  prevailed  on  to  be  her  champion,  provided  that  at 
the  moment  of  the  contest  a  better  knight  did  not  appear,  to 
answer  for  her.  Of  course,  when  Sir  Bors  is  about  to  enter 
the  lists  in  the  meadow  before  Winchester,  where  there  is  a 
great  fire  and  an  iron  stake,  at  which  Guinevere  is  to  be  burned 
if  her  champion  is  overcome,  a  strange  knight  appears  in 
unknown  armour,  and  turns  out  to  be  Lancelot,  fights  for 
the  queen,  and  overthrows  her  accuser. 

Here  comes  in  the  exquisite  story  of  Elaine,  to  which 
Tennyson  has  done  ample  justice. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  the  "lily  maid  of  Astolat,"  Sir 
Agravaine,  moved  by  jealousy  of  Arthur's  greatest  knight, 
discloses  the  story  of  Lancelot's  treacherous  love  for  the 
queen,  and  extracts  from  the  king  a  reluctant  permission  to 
take  the  miscreant.  But  Sir  Modred  is  the  real  instigator 
of  the  plot,  working  upon  Agravaine's  weakness,  and  Tennyson 
has  altered  little  in  the  dramatic  situation  which  immediately 
follows.  His  description  of  the  parting  scene  between  Lancelot 
and  Guinevere  is  fine  : — 

"  And  then  they  were  agreed  upon  a  night 
(When  the  good  King  should  not  be  there)  to  meet 
And  part  for  ever.     Passion  pale  they  met 
And  greeted  :  hands  in  hands,  and  eye  to  eye, 
Low  on  the  border  of  her  couch  they  sat 
Stammering  and  staring  ;  it  was  their  last  hour, 


A  MISSING  PAGE  239 

A  madness  of  farewells.     And  Modred  brought 

His  creatures  to  the  basement  of  the  tower 

For  testimony  ;  and  crying  with  full  voice, 

'  Traitor,  come  out,  ye  are  trapt  at  last,'  aroused 

Lancelot,  who  rushing  outward  lion-like 

Leapt  on  him,  and  hurled  him  headlong,  and  he  fell 

Stunned,  and  his  creatures  took  and  bare  him  off, 

And  all  was  still ;  then  she,  'The  end  is  come, 

And  I  am  shamed  forever  ; '  and  he  said, 

'  Mine  be  the  shame  ;  mine  was  the  sin  ;  but  rise, 

And  fly  to  my  strong  castle  over  seas  : 

There  will  I  hide  thee  till  my  life  shall  end, 

There  hold  thee  with  my  life  against  the  world.' 

She  answered,  '  Lancelot,  wilt  thou  hold  me  so  ? 

Nay,  friend,  for  we  have  taken  our  farewells. 

Would  God  that  thou  coulds't  hide  me  from  myself ! ' " 

Lancelot  will  not  yield  himself  up  lightly  to  his  enemies ; 
Sir  Agravaine  and  another  knight  fall  in  the  struggle  with 
him ;  but  it  is  not  now  that  Guinevere  betakes  herself  to 
Almesbury,  and  the  whole  beautiful  scene  between  her  and 
Arthur,  and  his  most  touching  farewell  to  her  are  weavings  of 
the  modern  poet's  imagination.  Beautiful  the  scene  surely  is, 
although  wanting  in  one  supreme  touch,  which  a  more 
Catholic-minded  poet  would  have  given  to  it.  Guinevere's  sin, 
according  to  Tennyson,  is  merely  her  sin  against  her 
husband ;  according  to  Malory  it  is  her  sin  against  God, 
and  this  is  the  very  essence  of  the  true  Guinevere's 
repentance. 

What  really  happens  is  this :  Lancelot  takes  counsel  with 
Sir  Bors  and  his  other  friends,  as  to  how  he  may  save  the 
queen,  and  it  is  decided  that  if  on  the  morrow  she  is  brought 
to  the  fire  to  be  burned,  Lancelot  and  all  his  kinsmen  shall 
rescue  her. 

Accordingly,  Arthur's  nephews,  Gawayn,  Gahers,  and  Gareth, 
lead  Guinevere  forth  "without  Caerleyell,  and  there  she  was 
despoiled  unto  her  smock,  and  so  then  her  ghostly  father  was 
brought  to  her  to  be  shriven  of  her  misdeeds."  But  Lancelot's 
messenger  gives  the  alarm  duly,  and  Lancelot  appears  with 


240  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

all    his   friends.     There  is  much  fighting   and   bloodshed,  and 
Sir  Gahers  and  Sir  Gareth  are  slain. 

"  Then  Sir  Lancelot  rode  straight  unto  the  queen,  and  made 
a  kirtle  and  a  gown  to  be  cast  upon  her,  and  then  he  made 
her  to  be  set  behind  him,  and  rode  with  her  unto  his  castle  of 
Joyous  Garde,  and  there  he  kept  her  as  a  noble  knight  should, 
and  many  lords  and  kings  send  Sir  Lancelot  many  good 
knights.  When  it  was  known  openly  that  King  Arthur  and 
Sir  Lancelot  were  at  debate,  many  knights  were  glad  of  their 
debate,  and  many  knights  were  sorry.  But  King  Arthur 
sorrowed  for  pure  sorrow,  and  said,  Alas,  that  ever  I  bare 
any  crown  upon  my  head." 

Gawayn,  mourning  the  death  of  his  brothers,  incites  the 
king  to  besiege  Lancelot  in  Joyous  Garde,  and  at  length, 
reluctantly,  Arthur  consents  to  make  war. 

"  Of  this  war  was  noise  throughout  all  Christendom.  And 
at  last  it  was  noised  before  the  Pope,  and  he,  considering  the 
great  goodness  of  King  Arthur  and  Sir  Lancelot,  which  was  called 
the  most  noble  knight  of  the  world,  wherefore  the  Pope  called 
unto  him  a  noble  clerk  that  at  that  time  there  was  present : 
the  French  book  saith  it  was  the  Bishop  of  Rochester.  And 
the  Pope  gave  him  Bulls  under  lead,  unto  King  Arthur  of 
England,  charging  him  upon  pain  of  interdiction  of  all  England, 
that  he  take  his  queen,  Dame  Guinevere,  to  him  again,  and  accord 
with  Sir  Lancelot." 

Arthur  would  have  made  peace  at  once,  but  at  first  Gawayn 
prevented  him.  Then  the  bishop  went  to  Lancelot  and  charged 
him  to  bring  back  the  queen  : — 

"  And  the  bishop  had  of  the  king  his  great  seal  and  assur- 
ance, as  he  was  a  true  anointed  king,  that  Sir  Lancelot  should 
go  safe  and  come  safe,  and  that  the  queen  should  not  be 
reproved  of  the  king  nor  of  none  other,  for  nothing  done  before 
time  past" 

To  Lancelot  the  bishop  ended  his  exhortation  in  these 
words : — 


A  MISSING  PAGE  241 

"  Wit  ye  well,  the  Pope  must  be  obeyed." 

And  Lancelot  answered  that  it  was  never  in  his  thoughts  to 
withhold  the  queen  from  his  lord,  King  Arthur,  "  but  in  so  much 
as  she  should  have  been  dead  for  my  sake,  me  seemeth  it  was 
my  part  to  save  her  life,  and  put  her  from  that  danger  till 
better  recover  might  come.  And  now  I  thank  God  that  the 
Pope  hath  made  her  peace,  for  God  knoweth  I  would  be  a 
thousandfold  more  gladder  to  bring  her  again  than  I  was  of 
her  taking  away." 

So  he  brought  Guinevere  to  the  king,  and  when  they  had 
both  knelt  before  him,  he  said  : — 

"  My  most  redoubted  lord  ye  shall  understand  that,  by  the 
Pope's  commandment  and  by  yours,  I  have  brought  unto  you 
my  lady  the  queen,  as  right  requireth."  Then  King  Arthur  and 
all  the  other  kings  kneeled  down  and  gave  thankings  and  louings 
(praises)  to  God  and  to  his  Blessed  Mother. 

But  Gawayn  would  not  be  reconciled  to  Lancelot,  who  in 
vain  offered  to  do  penance  for  the  death  of  Gahers  and  Gareth. 
In  vain  he  said  : — 

"  This  much  shall  I  offer  you  if  it  may  please  the  king's  good 
grace,  and  you  my  lord  Sir  Gawayn.  And  first  I  shall  begin  at 
Sandwich,  and  there  I  shall  go  in  my  shirt  and  barefoot,  and  at 
every  ten  miles'  end  I  will  found  and  cause  to  make  a  house  of 
religion,  of  what  order  ye  will  assign  me,  with  a  whole  convent, 
to  sing  and  to  read  day  and  night,  in  especial  for  Sir  Gareth's 
sake  and  Sir  Gahers ;  and  this  shall  I  perform  from  Sandwich 
unto  Caerleyell.  And  this,  Sir  Gawayn,  me  thinketh,  were  more 
fairer  and  better  unto  their  souls  than  that  my  most  noble  lord 
Arthur  and  you  should  war  on  me,  for  thereby  ye  shall  get  none 
avail." 

But  Gawayn  answered  him  with  hard  words  ending 
thus : — 

"  And  if  it  were  not  for  the  Pope's  commandment  I  should 
do  battle  with  my  body  against  thy  body,  and  prove  it  unto 
thee  that  thou  hast  been  false  unto  mine  uncle,  King  Arthur, 

Q 


242  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  to  me  both,  and  that  shall  I  prove  upon  thy  body,  when 
thou  art  departed  from  hence,  wheresoever  I  find  thee.  Then 
all  the  knights  and  ladies  that  were  there  wept  as  they  had  been 
mad,  and  the  tears  fell  upon  King  Arthur's  cheeks.  Then  Sir 
Lancelot  kissed  the  queen  before  them  all,  took  his  leave,  and 
departed  with  all  the  knights  of  his  kin." 

He  went  to  his  estates  over  the  sea  ;  but  Gawayn  gave  Arthur 
no  rest  till  he  had  made  ready  an  army  and  crossed  the  sea  to 
make  war  on  him.  Modred,  in  Arthur's  absence,  seized  the 
kingdom,  and  would  have  wedded  the  queen  by  force,  had  not 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  threatened  to  curse  him  with  bell, 
book,  and  candle.  When  Modred  defied  him,  the  archbishop 
departed,  and  "did  the  curse  in  the  most  orgulous  wise  that 
might  be  done." 

But  Arthur,  receiving  tidings  of  Modred's  conduct,  returned 
to  Dover,  where  the  usurper  met  him,  and  "  there  was  much 
slaughter  of  gentle  knights."  Here  Sir  Gawayn  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  Arthur  "  made  great  sorrow  and  moan."  Two 
hours  before  his  death,  Gawayn  wrote  a  letter  to  Lancelot, 
telling  him  of  Modred's  crime  and  beseeching  him,  "  the  most 
noblest  knight,"  to  come  back  to  the  realm  : — 

"  And  so  at  the  hour  of  None,  Sir  Gawayn  betook  himself 
into  the  hands  of  our  Lord  God,  after  that  he  had  received  his 
Saviour.  And  then  the  king  let  bury  him  within  a  chapel 
within  the  castle  of  Dover,  and  there,  yet  to  this  day,  all  men 
may  see  the  skull  of  Sir  Gawayn,  and  the  same  wound  is  seen 
that  Sir  Lancelot  gave  him  in  battle." 

In  the  "  Passing  of  Arthur "  Tennyson  has  kept  mainly  to 
the  original,  though  he  omits  Arthur's  command  to  Sir  Bedevere 
to  pray  for  his  soul. 

The  king,  overcome  by  his  enemies,  receives  his  deadly 
wound,  and  sails  away  in  the  barge,  with  the  three  queens,  to  the 
island  valley  of  Avilion.  But,  according  to  Malory,  Sir  Bedevere 
finds  him  on  the  morrow,  lying  dead  in  a  little  chapel  on  a 
rock : — 


A  MISSING  PAGE  243 

"  And  when  Queen  Guinevere  understood  that  her  lord  King 
Arthur  was  slain,  and  all  the  noble  knights,  Sir  Modred  and  all 
the  remnant,  she  stole  away,  and  five  ladies  with  her,  and  so  she 
went  to  Almesbury,  and  there  she  let  make  herself  a  nun,  and 
wore  white  clothes  and  black,  and  great  penance  she  took  as 
ever  did  sinful  lady  in  this  land,  and  never  creature  could  make 
her  merry,  but  lived  in  fastings,  prayers,  and  alms-deeds,  that 
all  manner  of  people  marvelled  how  virtuously  she  was  changed. 
Now  leave  we  Queen  Guinevere  in  Almesbury,  a  nun  in  white 
clothes  and  black,  and  there  she  was  abbess  and  ruler  as  reason 
would,  and  turn  me  from  her  and  speak  me  of  Sir  Lancelot  du 
Lake." 

Meanwhile,  Sir  Lancelot  had  returned  to  England  to  avenge 
King  Arthur's  death  : — 

"  Then  the  people  told  him  how  that  he  was  slain,  and  Sir 
Modred  and  a  hundred  thousand  died  on  a  day,  and  how  Sir 
Modred  gave  King  Arthur  there  the  first  battle  at  his  landing, 
and  there  was  good  Sir  Gawayn  slain,  and  on  the  morn  Sir 
Modred  fought  with  the  king  upon  Barham  Down,  and  there 
the  king  put  Sir  Modred  to  the  worse.  Alas,  said  Sir 
Lancelot,  this  is  the  heaviest  tidings  that  ever  came  to  me. 
Now  fair  Sirs,  said  Sir  Lancelot,  shew  me  the  tomb  of  Sir 
Gawayn.  And  then  certain  people  of  the  town  brought  him 
into  the  castle  of  Dover  and  showed  him  the  tomb.  Then  Sir 
Lancelot  kneeled  down  and  wept  and  prayed  heartily  for  his 
soul.  And  that  night  he  made  a  dole,  and  all  they  that  would 
come  had  as  much  flesh,  fish,  wine,  and  ale  as  they  would,  and 
every  man  and  woman  had  twelve  pence  come  who  would. 
Thus  with  his  own  hand  dealt  he  his  money  in  a  mourning 
gown ;  and  ever  he  wept,  and  prayed  them  to  pray  for  the  soul 
of  Sir  Gawayn.  And  on  the  morn  all  the  priests  and  clerks 
that  might  be  gotten  in  the  country  were  there  and  sung  Mass 
of  Requiem.  And  there  offered  first  Sir  Lancelot,  and  he 
offered  an  hundred  pound,  and  then  the  seven  kings  offered 
forty  pound  apiece,  and  also  there  was  a  thousand  knights,  and 


244  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

each  of  them  offered  a  pound,  and  the  offering  dured  from  morn 
till  night.  And  Sir  Lancelot  lay  two  nights  on  his  tomb  in 
prayers  and  in  weeping.  Then  on  the  third  day  Sir  Lancelot 
called  the  kings,  dukes,  earls,  barons,  and  knights,  and  said  thus : 
My  fair  lords,  I  thank  you  all  of  your  coming  into  this  country 
with  me :  but  we  come  too  late,  and  that  shall  repent  me  while 
I  live,  but  against  death  may  no  man  rebel.  But  sithen  it  is  so, 
said  Sir  Lancelot,  I  will  myself  ride  and  seek  my  lady  Queen 
Guinevere,  for  as  I  hear  say  she  hath  great  pain  and  much 
disease,  and  I  heard  say  that  she  is  fled  into  the  west  country, 
therefore  ye  all  abide  me  here,  and  but  if  I  come  not  again 
within  fifteen  days,  then  take  your  ships  and  your  fellowship, 
and  depart  into  your  country. 

"Then  came  Sir  Bors  de  Ganis,  and  said,  My  lord  Sir 
Lancelot,  what  think  ye  for  to  do,  now  to  ride  in  this  realm  ? 
wit  thou  well  ye  shall  find  few  friends.  Be  as  it  may,  said 
Sir  Lancelot,  keep  you  still  here,  for  I  will  forth  on  my 
journey,  and  no  man  nor  child  shall  go  with  me.  So  it  was  no 
boot  to  strive,  but  he  departed  and  rode  westerly  and  sought 
seven  or  eight  days,  and  at  the  last  he  came  to  a  nunnery.  And 
then  was  Queen  Guinevere  ware  of  Sir  Lancelot  as  he  walked 
in  the  cloister.  And  when  she  saw  him  there  she  swooned 
thrice,  that  all  the  ladies  and  gentlewomen  had  work  enough  to 
hold  the  Queen  up.  So  when  she  might  speak  she  called  the 
ladies  and  gentlewomen  to  her  and  said,  Ye  marvel,  fair  ladies, 
why  I  make  this  cheer.  Truly,  she  said,  it  is  for  the  sight  of 
yonder  knight  which  yonder  standeth,  wherefore  I  pray  you  all 
call  him  to  me.  And  when  Sir  Lancelot  was  brought  unto  her 
she  said,  through  this  knight  and  me  all  these  wars  been 
wrought,  and  the  death  of  the  most  noblest  knights  of  the  world. 
For  through  our  love  that  we  have  loved  together  is  my  most 
noble  lord  slain.  Therefore,  wit  ye  well,  Sir  Lancelot,  I  am  set 
in  such  a  plight  to  get  my  soul  health ;  and  yet  I  trust  through 
God's  grace  after  my  death  to  have  a  sight  of  the  blessed  face  of 
Christ,  and  at  the  dreadful  day  of  doom  to  sit  on  His  right 


A  MISSING  PAGE  245 

side,  for  as  sinful  creatures  as  ever  was  I  are  saints  in  heaven. 
Therefore,  Sir  Lancelot,  I  require  and  beseech  thee  heartily,  for 
all  the  love  that  ever  was  betwixt  us,  that  thou  never  see  me 
more  in  the  visage.  And  furthermore  I  command  thee  on 
God's  behalf  right  straightly  that  thou  forsake  my  company, 
and  to  thy  kingdom  thou  turn  again,  and  keep  well  thy 
realm  from  war  and  wrack.  For  as  well  as  I  have  loved 
thee,  mine  heart  will  not  serve  me  to  see  thee ;  for  both 
through  me  and  thee  is  the  flower  of  kings  and  knights 
destroyed.  Therefore,  Sir  Lancelot,  go  to  thy  realm,  and  there 
take  thee  a  wife,  and  live  with  her  in  joy  and  bliss,  and  I 
pray  thee  heartily  pray  for  me  to  our  Lord,  that  I  may  amend 
my  mis-living. 

"Now,  sweet  madam,  said  Sir  Lancelot,  would  ye  that  I 
should  return  again  unto  my  country,  and  there  to  wed  a 
lady  ?  Nay,  madam,  wit  you  well,  that  shall  I  never  do :  for 
I  shall  never  be  so  false  to  you  of  that  I  have  promised, 
but  the  same  destiny  that  ye  have  taken  you  unto,  I  will 
take  me  unto,  for  to  please  God  and  specially  to  pray  for 
you. 

"  If  thou  wilt  do  so,  said  the  Queen,  hold  thy  promise. 
But  I  may  not  believe  but  that  thou  wilt  turn  to  the  world 
again. 

"  Ye  say  well,  said  he,  yet  wish  ye  me  never  false  of  my 
promise,  and  God  defend  but  that  I  should  forsake  the  world 
like  as  ye  have  done.  For  in  the  quest  of  the  Sancgreall  I  had 
forsaken  the  vanities  of  the  world  had  not  your  lord  been.  And 
if  I  had  done  so  at  that  time,  with  my  heart,  will,  and  thought, 
I  had  passed  all  the  knights  that  were  in  the  Sancgreall,  except 
Sir  Galahad,  my  son.  And  therefore,  lady,  sithen  ye  have  taken 
you  to  perfection,  I  must  needs  take  me  unto  perfection  of 
right.  For  I  take  record  of  God,  in  you  have  I  had  mine 
earthly  joy,  and  if  I  had  found  you  so  disposed,  I  had  cast 
me  for  to  have  had  you  into  mine  own  realm.  But  sithen 
I  find  you  thus  disposed,  I  ensure  you  faithfully  that  I  will  take 


246  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

me  to  penance,  and  pray  while  my  life  lasteth,  if  that  I  may 
find  any  hermit,  either  grey  or  white,  that  will  receive  me. 
Wherefore,  madam,  I  pray  you  kiss  me  once  and  never 
more. 

"  Nay,  said  the  Queen,  that  shall  I  never  do,  but  abstain 
you  from  such  works.  And  they  departed.  But  there  was 
never  so  hard  a  hearted  man  but  he  would  have  wept  to  see 
the  dolour  that  they  made.  For  there  was  lamentation  as 
though  they  had  been  stung  with  spears,  and  many  times  they 
swooned.  And  the  ladies  bare  the  Queen  to  her  chamber. 
And  Sir  Lancelot  awoke,  and  went,  and  took  his  horse,  and 
rode  all  that  day  and  all  that  night  in  a  forest,  weeping.  And 
at  the  last  he  was  ware  of  an  hermitage,  and  a  chapel  stood 
betwixt  two  cliffs ;  and  then  he  heard  a  little  bell  ring  to  Mass, 
and  thither  he  rode  and  alighted,  and  tied  his  horse  to  the  gate, 
and  heard  Mass.  So  he  that  sang  the  Mass  was  the  Bishop 
of  Canterbury.  There  was  also  Sir  Bedevere,  and  both  the 
bishop  and  Sir  Bedevere  knew  Sir  Lancelot,  and  they  spoke 
together  after  Mass.  But  when  Sir  Bedevere  had  told  his  tale 
all  whole,  Sir  Lancelot's  heart  almost  braste  for  sorrow,  and  Sir 
Lancelot  threw  his  arms  abroad  and  said,  Alas,  who  may  trust 
this  world!  And  then  he  kneeled  down  on  his  knees,  and 
prayed  the  bishop  to  shrive  him  and  assoil  him.  And  then  he 
besought  the  bishop  that  he  might  be  his  brother.  Then  the 
bishop  said,  I  will  gladly,  and  there  he  put  an  habit  upon  Sir 
Lancelot,  and  there  he  served  God  day  and  night  with  prayers 
and  fastings." 

Bedevere  followed  Lancelot's  example,  and  within  half  a 
year  seven  other  knights  joined  themselves  to  these  two  and : — 
"  endured  in  great  penance  six  year,  and  then  Sir  Lancelot  took 
the  habit  of  priesthood,  and  in  twelve  months  he  sang  Mass. 
And  there  was  none  of  these  other  knights  but  they  read  in 
books  and  holp  to  sing  Mass,  and  rang  bells,  and  did  lowly  all 
manner  of  service.  And  so  their  horses  went  where  they 
would  for  they  took  no  regard  of  no  worldly  riches.  For  when 


A  MISSING  PAGE  247 

they  saw  Sir  Lancelot  endure  such  penance,  in  prayers  and 
fasting,  they  took  no  force  what  pain  they  endured,  for  to  see 
the  noblest  knight  of  the  world  take  such  abstinence  that  he 
waxed  full  lean.  And  thus  upon  a  night  there  came  a  vision 
to  Sir  Lancelot,  and  charged  him  in  remission  of  his  sins,  to 
haste  him  unto  Almesbury — and  by  then  thou  come  there,  thou 
shalt  find  Queen  Guinevere  dead,  and  therefore  take  thy  fellows 
with  thee,  and  purvey  thee  of  an  horse-bier,  and  fetch  thou  the 
corpse  of  her,  and  bury  her  by  her  husband,  the  noble  King 
Arthur.  So  this  vision  came  to  Lancelot  thrice  in  one 
night. 

"  Then  Sir  Lancelot  rose  upon  day  and  told  the  hermit 
It  were  well  done,  said  the  hermit,  that  ye  make  you  ready, 
and  that  ye  disobey  not  the  vision.  Then  Sir  Lancelot  took 
his  seven  fellows  with  him,  and  on  foot  they  went  from 
Glastonbury  to  Almesbury,  the  which  is  little  more  than  thirty 
miles.  And  thither  they  came  within  two  days,  for  they  were 
weak  and  feeble  to  go. 

"  And  when  Sir  Lancelot  was  come  to  Almesbury,  within  the 
nunnery,  Queen  Guinevere  died  but  half  an  hour  before.  And 
the  ladies  told  Sir  Lancelot  that  Queen  Guinevere  told  them  all 
ere  she  passed,  that  Sir  Lancelot  had  been  priest  near  a  twelve- 
month. And  hither  he  cometh  as  fast  as  he  may  to  fetch  my 
corpse,  and  beside  my  lord  King  Arthur  he  shall  bury  me. 
Wherefore  the  Queen  said,  in  hearing  of  them  all,  I  beseech 
Almighty  God  that  I  may  never  have  power  to  see  Sir  Lancelot 
with  my  worldly  eyes.  And  this,  said  all  the  ladies  was  ever 
her  prayer  these  two  days  till  she  was  dead.  Then  Sir  Lancelot 
saw  her  visage,  but  he  wept  not  greatly,  but  sighed.  And  so 
he  did  all  the  observance  of  the  service  himself,  both  the 
Dirige,  and  on  the  morn  he  sang  Mass.  And  there  was 
ordained  an  horse-bier,  and  so  with  an  hundred  torches  ever 
burning  about  the  corpse  of  the  Queen,  and  ever  Sir  Lancelot 
with  his  eight  fellows  went  about  the  horse-bier  singing  and 
reading  many  an  holy  orison,  and  frankincense  upon  the  corpse 


248  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

incensed.  Thus  Sir  Lancelot  and  his  eight  fellows  went  on  foot 
from  Almesbury  unto  Glastonbury,  and  when  they  were  come 
to  the  chapel  and  the  hermitage,  there  she  had  a  Dirige  with 
great  devotion.  And  on  the  morn  the  hermit  that  was  some- 
time Bishop  of  Canterbury,  sang  the  Mass  of  Requiem  with 
great  devotion ;  and  Sir  Lancelot  was  the  first  that  offered,  and 
then  all  his  eight  fellows.  And  then  she  was  wrapped  in  cered 
cloth  of  Raines,  from  the  top  to  the  toe  in  thirty-fold,  and  after 
she  was  put  in  a  web  of  lead,  and  then  in  a  coffin  of  marble. 
And  when  she  was  put  in  the  earth,  Sir  Lancelot  swooned,  and 
lay  long  still,  while  the  hermit  came  out,  and  awaked  him  and 
said,  Ye  be  to  blame,  for  ye  displease  God  with  such  manner 
of  sorrow-making.  Truly,  said  Sir  Lancelot,  I  trust  I  do 
not  displease  God,  for  He  knoweth  mine  intent,  for  my  sorrow 
was  not,  nor  is  not,  for  any  rejoicing  of  sin,  but  my  sorrow  may 
never  end.  For  when  I  remember  of  her  beauty  and  of  her 
noblesse  that  was  both  with  her  king  and  with  her,  so  when  I 
saw  his  corpse  and  her  corpse  so  lie  together,  truly  mine  heart 
would  not  serve  to  sustain  my  careful  body.  Also  when  I 
remember  me,  how  by  my  default,  mine  orgule,  my  pride,  that 
they  were  both  laid  full  low  that  were  peerless  that  ever  was 
living  of  Christian  people,  wit  you  well,  said  Sir  Lancelot, 
this  remembered  of  their  kindness  and  mine  unkindness,  sank 
so  to  my  heart  that  I  might  not  sustain  myself." 

Not  long  after  the  death  of  Guinevere,  Lancelot  "  began  to 
wax  sick,  and  for  evermore,  day  and  night  he  prayed  ;  but 
needfully,  as  nature  required,  sometimes  he  slumbered  a  broken 
sleep.  And  within  six  weeks  he  lay  in  his  bed  and  called  the 
bishop  and  said,  Sir  Bishop,  I  pray  you  that  ye  will  give  me 
all  my  rights  that  belongeth  unto  a  Christian  man."  Then 
Malory  goes  on  to  say  that  "  when  he  was  houseled  and  eneled, 
and  had  all  that  a  Christian  man  ought  to  have,  he  prayed 
the  bishop  that  his  fellows  might  bear  his  body  unto  Joyous 
Garde." 

That  night  the  bishop  dreamed  he  saw  Sir  Lancelot  with 


A  MISSING  PAGE  249 

two  angels,  "and  he  saw  the  angels  heave  up  Sir  Lancelot 
towards  heaven,  and  the  gates  of  heaven  opened  against  him. 
And  then  they  went  to  Sir  Lancelot's  bed,  and  there  they  found 
him  dead,  and  he  lay  as  he  had  smiled;  and  the  sweetest 
savour  about  him  that  ever  they  felt." 


Ill 

FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS 

To  take  the  Acts  and  Monuments,  and  as  far  as  it  might  be 
possible  after  upwards  of  three  hundred  years,  test  the 
accuracy  of  each  circumstance  which  Foxe  proposes  for  the 
edification  of  his  readers,  would  necessitate  a  work  as  volu- 
minous as  his  own  immense  undertaking.  To  sift  the  chaff 
from  the  wheat,  and  to  bind  up  the  latter  into  one  acceptable 
whole  would  perhaps  result  in  a  book  not  larger  than  one  of 
his  own  eight  thick  octavo  and  closely  printed  volumes.  All 
that  can  be  done  here  is  to  indicate  some  of  the  most 
flagrant  instances  of  the  unfair  and  uncritical  spirit  in  which 
he  has  written,  of  the  carelessness,  wilful  misrepresentation, 
and  neglect  to  rectify  errors  pointed  out  to  him,  by  which 
the  martyrologist  has  exposed  his  book  to  everlasting 
reproach. 

On  the  death  of  Foxe's  last  descendant  the  greater  part 
of  his  MSS.  were  either  given  to  the  annalist,  Strype,  or 
were  allowed  to  remain  in  his  hands  till  his  death  in  1737, 
when  many  of  them  were  purchased  by  Lord  Oxford  for  the 
Harleian  collection  now  in  the  British  Museum.  A  few  of 
them  found  a  refuge  in  the  Lansdowne  Library,  and  these 
also  are  now  in  the  possession  of  the  nation.  They  include  a 
mass  of  heterogeneous  documents  of  the  most  unequal  value 
and  interest — such  as  the  stories,  often  palpably  coloured, 
of  persons  who  profess  to  have  been  eye-witnesses  of  the 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  251 

scenes  depicted,  minutes  of  the  examinations  of  prisoners, 
apparently  taken  down  on  the  spot,  wild  statements  written 
with  the  obvious  purpose  of  pandering  to  Puritan  intolerance 
and  prejudice,  and  fantastic  tales  of  the  martyrologist's 
supposed  judgments  of  God  upon  those  who  persecuted  the 
followers  of  the  reformed  doctrines.  They  include  also 
several  counter-statements  sent  to  Foxe  for  the  express 
purpose  of  giving  him  an  opportunity  to  correct  portions 
of  his  work,  but  of  which,  although  he  preserved  them, 
he  never  made  any  use.  Some  of  these  latter  have  been 
utilised  by  Gough  in  his  Narratives  of  the  Days  of  the 
Reformation. 

In  his  preface  to  this  book,  Gough  admits,1  as  indeed  he 
was  obliged  to  admit  that,  "as  a  general  history  of  the 
Church  in  its  earlier  ages,  Foxe's  work  has  been  shown  to 
be  partial  and  prejudiced  in  spirit,  imperfect  and  inaccurate 
in  execution,"  and  Leach2  asserts  that,  while  its  compiler 
had  recourse  to  some  early  documents,  even  here  he  depended 
largely  on  printed  works,  such  as  Crespin's  Actiones  et  Monu- 
menta  Martyrum,  which  was  published  at  Geneva  in  1560. 
He  notes,  moreover,  that  Foxe's  chapter  on  the  Waldenses 
is  nothing  but  a  translation  of  the  untrustworthy  Catalogus 
Testium  Veritatis>  published  at  Basle  by  Illyricus  in  1556, 
although  Foxe  himself  does  not  acknowledge  Illyricus  as 
his  authority,  but  claims  to  have  consulted  "  parchment  docu- 
ments," which  he  only  knew  from  the  transcriptions  in  that 
book.  "  It  has  been  conclusively  shown,"  says  Mr  Sidney 
Lee  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  "  that  his  chapter 
on  the  Waldenses  is  directly  translated  from  the  Catalogus 
of  Illyricus,  although  Illyricus  is  not  mentioned  by  Foxe 
among  the  authorities  whom  he  acknowledges  to  have  con- 
sulted. .  .  .  This  indicates  a  loose  notion  of  literary  morality 

1  P.  23,  edited  by  the  Camden  Society. 

2  Sir  George  Croke's  Reports^  edited  by  Thomas  Leach,  ii.  91.      London, 
1790-92, 


252  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

which  justifies  some  of  the  harshest  judgments  passed  on 
Foxe." 

Matthias  Flach-Franconitz,  better  known  as  Flacius  Illyricus, 
from  the  place  of  his  birth  (in  Istria,  a  part  of  Illyria)  was 
a  voluminous  writer  on  most  of  the  controverted  doctrines 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  Having  become  a  disciple  of  Luther 
he  was  for  ever  raising  fresh  disputes  on  religious  subjects, 
and  was  noted  for  the  violence  and  exaggeration  he  brought 
into  their  discussion,  so  that,  according  to  a  German 
historian,  "he  seemed  to  have  been  created  for  an  ecclesi- 
astical Procurator  General."  On  his  death  in  1575,  Jacques 
Andreas,  one  of  his  friends,  admitted  that,  taken  alto- 
gether, his  Illyricus  was  the  devil's  Illyricus,  and  that, 
in  the  opinion  of  Andreas,  he  was  then  "supping  with 
devils." l 

Such  then  being  Foxe's  authority,  although  unacknowledged, 
for  his  Waldensian  chapter,  we  can  scarcely  expect  him  to 
be  more  conscientious  in  his  evidence  concerning  matters 
closely  connected  with  the  passions,  prejudices,  and  burning 
questions  of  his  own  day. 

Nearly,  if  not  quite  all  the  material  for  that  part  of  the 
Acts  and  Monuments  which  deals  with  the  reign  of  Mary  was 
collected  by  others  for  Foxe  and  Grindal  during  their  absence 
from  England.  Grindal  handed  over  to  Foxe  the  accounts 
of  the  various  prosecutions  for  heresy  sent  to  him  by  his 
correspondents  at  home,  taking  care,  however,  at  the  same 
time  to  warn  the  martyrologist  against  placing  too  much 
confidence  in  them,  he  himself  suspending  his  judgment  "till 
more  satisfactory  evidence  came  from  good  hands."  He 
advised  him  for  the  present,  only  to  print  separately  the  acts 
of  particular  persons  of  whom  they  had  authentic  accounts, 
and  to  wait  for  a  larger  and  more  complete  history  until  they 


1  Hoefer,     Nouvelle    Biographic     Qertfrale,    Art,     Flach  -  Franconite 
(Matthias^ 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  253 

had  trustworthy  information  concerning  the  "  martyrs." 1 
The  letters,  which  Grindal  wrote  to  Foxe  on  this  subject  in 
1557,  were  published  by  the  Parker  Society,  in  Grindal 's 
Remains,  and  show  that  the  future  archbishop  believed  not 
too  implicitly  in  the  truth  of  all  the  stories  which  he  passed 
on  to  his  friend.  He  constantly  urged  him  to  delay  writing 
in  order  to  gain  "  more  certain  intelligence."  But  the  careful 
investigation  which  he  recommended  did  not  fall  in  with  the 
particular  genius  and  uncritical  methods  of  Foxe,  who,  perhaps 
on  account  of  his  necessitous  condition,  worked  away  with  a 
will  on  the  unsifted  tales  and  reports  as  they  came  to  hand, 
so  that  the  book  in  its  Latin  form  was  completed,  almost 
to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Mary,  and  was  published  at  Basle, 
before  his  return  to  England  in  1559.  He  afterwards  made  an 
English  translation  of  the  work,  but  without  seeing  fit  to 
revise  his  material.  It  bore  the  title  Acts  and  Monuments, 
but  it  was  at  once  popularly  styled  the  Book  of  Martyrs. 
When  he  was  attacked  by  Alan  Cope  (Nicholas  Harpsfield) 
for  his  inaccuracy,  Foxe  replied :  "  I  hear  what  you  will  say : 
I  should  have  taken  more  leisure  and  done  it  better.  I  grant 
and  confess  my  fault,  such  is  my  vice,  I  cannot  sit  all  the  day 
(Maister  Cope)  fining  and  mincing  my  letters,  and  comb- 
ing my  head,  and  smoothing  myself  all  the  day  at  the 
glass  of  Cicero.  Yet,  notwithstanding,  doing  what  I  can, 
and  doing  my  good  will,  methinks  I  should  not  be  repre- 
hended, at  least  not  so  much  be  railed  of  at  M.  Cope's 
hand."2 

But  it  is  not  for  his  want  of  scholarly  writing  that  Foxe 
has  been  blamed.  Father  Robert  Persons,  in  his  Three 
Conversions  of  England?  begins  one  of  his  chapters  with  "  a 
note  of  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  lies  uttered  by  John 
Foxe,  in  less  than  three  leaves  of  his  Acts  and  Monuments" 

1  Strype,  Life  of  Archbishop  Grindal,  p.  25. 
•  Acts  and  Monuments,  i.  691.     Edited  1570. 
;i  Part  iii.,  p.  412. 


254  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  he  proceeds  to  point  them  out,  beginning  with  the 
misstatement  concerning  John  Merbeck  and  some  others, 
whom  Foxe  counts  among  the  martyrs,  although  they  were  never 
burned  at  all.  As,  in  consequence  of  Father  Persons'  remarks 
concerning  John  Merbeck,  Foxe  acknowledged  the  error  in 
his  second  edition,  we  may  hold  him  excused  thus  far,  but 
his  delinquencies  in  this  respect  were  by  no  means  unfrequent, 
and  gave  rise  to  the  saying  that  "  many  who  were  burnt  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  drank  sack  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth."  l 

Two  similar  misstatements,  which  he  was  in  a  position 
to  correct  and  did  not,  relate  to  the  supposed  death 
by  the  vengeance  of  God,  of  Henry  Morgan,  Bishop  of 
St  David's,  and  of  one  Grimwood,  another  "notorious 
Papist" 

Anthony  a  Wood,  the  famous  antiquary  and  historian, 
who  wrote  his  History  of  the  Antiquities  of  Oxford  about  a 
hundred  years  after  Foxe  had  become  celebrated  as  a 
martyrologist,  and  who  in  his  youth  spoke  with  people 
who  remembered  the  days  of  persecution  under  Mary,  tells  us 
that  :— 

"  Henry  Morgan  was  esteemed  a  most  admirable  civilian 
and  canonist ;  he  was  for  several  years  the  constant  Moderator 
of  all  those  that  performed  exercise  for  their  degrees  in  the 
civil  law  in  the  scholar  schools,  hall  and  church  pertaining  to 
that  faculty,  situated  also  in  the  same  parish.  .  .  .  He  was 
elected  Bishop  of  St  David's,  upon  the  deprivation  of  Robert 
Ferrar.  ...  In  that  see  he  sate  till  after  Queen  Elizabeth 
came  to  the  Crown,  and  then  being  deprived  .  .  .  retired 
among  his  friends,  and  died  a  devoted  son  to  the  Church  of 
Rome,  on  the  23rd  of  December  following  (1559)  of  whose 
death,  hear  I  pray  what  John  Foxe  saith  in  this  manner : — 
Morgan,  Bishop  of  St  David's,  who  sate  upon  the  condemnation 

1  Quoted  in  Fuller's  Worthies^  under  "  Berkshire,"  p.  92. 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  255 

of  the  blessed  Martyr  and  Bishop  Ferrar,  and  unjustly  usurped 
his  room,  was  not  long  after  stricken  by  Gods  hand,  but  after 
such  a  strange  sort,  that  his  meat  would  not  go  down,  but  rise 
and  pick  up  again,  sometimes  at  his  mouth,  sometimes  blown  out 
of  his  nose,  most  horrible  to  behold,  and  so  he  continued  till  his 
death.  Thus  Foxe,  followed  by  Thomas  Beard  in  his  Theatre 
of  God's  Judgments.  But  where  or  when  his  death  happened, 
they  tell  us  not,  nor  any  author  hitherto,  only  when,  which 
Bishop  Godwin  mentions.  Now,  therefore,  be  pleased  to  know 
that  the  said  Bishop  Morgan,  retiring  after  his  deprivation  to 
and  near  Oxen,  where  he  had  several  relations  and  acquaint- 
ance living,  particularly  the  Owens  of  Godstow,  in  the  parish 
of  Wolvercote,  near  to  the  said  city,  did  spend  the  little 
remainder  of  his  life  in  great  devotion  at  Godstow,  but  that 
he  died  in  the  condition  which  Foxe  mentions  there  is  no 
tradition  among  the  inhabitants  of  Wolvercote.  True  it  is 
that  I  have  heard  some  discourse,  many  years  ago,  from  some 
of  the  ancients  of  that  place,  that  a  certain  bishop  did  live 
for  some  time,  and  exercised  his  charity  and  religious  counsel 
among  them,  and  there  died  ;  but  I  could  never  learn  anything 
of  them  of  the  manner  of  his  death,  which  being  very  miser- 
able, as  John  Foxe  saith,  methinks  that  they  should  have  a 
tradition  of  it,  as  well  as  of  the  man  himself;  but  I  say 
there  is  now  none,  nor  was  there  any  thirty  years  ago, 
among  the  most  aged  persons  then  living  at  that  place,  and 
therefore,  whether  there  be  anything  of  truth  in  it  may  justly  be 
doubted." 

The  evidence  of  this  negative  tradition  is  certainly  more 
convincing,  than  Foxe's  unsupported  allegation  of  a  circum- 
stance, as  unlikely  to  have  occurred,  as  it  was  likely  to  be 
concocted  by  a  man  of  his  propensity  and  unscrupulousness. 
If,  however,  there  should  be  any  doubt  of  Foxe's  ability 
to  concoct  such  a  story,  it  will  perhaps  be  removed  by  the 
history  of  the  drastic  refutation,  which  befell  the  similar 
story  of  the  end  of  Grimwood.  This,  Anthony  a  Wood 


256  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

proceeds  to   record   in   a  passage   immediately  after  the  one 
above  quoted. 

"In  the  very  same  chapter  and  leaf  concerning  the  severe 
punishment  upon  persecutors  of  God's  People,  he  hath  com- 
mitted a  most  egregious  falsity  in  reporting  that  one  Grimwood, 
of  Higham,  in  Suffolk,  died  in  a  miserable  manner,  for  swearing 
and  bearing  false  witness  against  one  John  Cooper,  a  carpenter 
of  Watsam  in  the  same  county,  for  which  he  lost  his  life. 
The  miserable  death  of  the  said  Grimwood  was,  as  John  Foxe 
saith  thus  :  That  when  he  was  in  his  labour,  staking  up  a  gosse 
of  corn,  having  his  health,  and  fearing  no  peril,  suddenly  his 
bowels  fell  out  of  his  body,  and  immediately  most  miserably  he 
died.  Now  it  so  fell  out  that  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  one 
Prit *•  became  parson  of  the  parish  where  the  said  Grimwood 
dwelt,  and  preaching  against  perjury,  being  not  acquainted 
with  his  parishioners,  cited  the  said  story  of  Foxe,  and  it 
happened  that  Grimwood  being  alive,  and  in  the  said  church, 
he  brought  an  action  upon  the  case,  against  the  parson,  but 
Judge  Anderson,  who  sate  at  the  Assizes  in  the  county  of 
Suffolk,  did  adjudge  it  not  maintainable,  because  it  was  not 
spoken  maliciously."2 

That  the  action  was  not  maintainable  on  the  ground  of 
malice,  as  against  the  parson,  may  have  been  true,  but  Foxe 
cannot  reasonably  be  acquitted,  for  although  he  went  into 
Suffolk  professedly  to  investigate  the  matter,  he  never  made 
any  alteration  in  his  story  in  subsequent  editions,  and  the 
very  latest  impression  of  the  Acts  and  Monuments  perpetuates 
the  lie  and  slander. 

Thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  Foxe 
undertook  to  collect  all  the  traditional  gossip  afloat  concern- 
ing the  Chancellor's  alleged  treatment  of  John  Tewkesbury 
and  James  Bainham,  for  heresy.  Tewkesbury  was  a  leather- 

1  Or  Prick. 

2  Anthony  k  Wood,  Athena:  Oxoniensis,  vol.  L,  p.  691. 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  257 

seller  of  London,  and  Foxe  says  that  he  was  sent  to  Sir 
Thomas  More's  house  at  Chelsea  to  be  examined,  and  that 
"there  he  lay  in  the  porter's  lodge,  hand,  foot,  and  head  in 
the  stocks,  six  days  without  release.  Then  was  he  carried  to 
Jesus'  Tree  in  his  privy  garden,  where  he  was  whipped,  and 
also  twisted  in  his  brows  with  a  small  rope,  that  the  blood 
started  out  of  his  eyes,  and  yet  would  not  accuse  no  man. 
Then  was  he  let  loose  for  a  day,  and  his  friends  thought  to 
have  him  at  liberty  the  next  day.  After  this  he  was  sent  to 
be  racked  in  the  Tower,  till  he  was  almost  lame,  and  there 
promised  to  recant.1 

The  truth  of  the  matter  was,  however,  that  as  Tewkes- 
bury  was  examined  for  the  first  time  on  the  8th  May 
1529,  and  immediately  afterwards  recanted,  the  event 
occurred  several  months  before  Sir  Thomas  More  became 
Lord  Chancellor ;  and  therewith  falls  to  the  ground  the  story 
of  Tewkesbury's  being  tortured  in  More's  garden,  the  punish- 
ment of  heretics  being  part  of  the  Lord  Chancellor's  office. 

James  Bainham  was  a  lawyer,  and  Foxe  declares  that  he 
was  whipped  at  the  Tree  of  Truth  in  More's  garden,  and  was 
then  sent  to  the  Tower  to  be  racked,  "and  so  he  was,  Sir 
Thomas  More  being  present  himself,  till  in  a  manner  he  had 
lamed  him."  Bainham,  like  Tewkesbury,  recanted,  and  both  of 
them  bewailed  and  retracted  their  recantations,  first  before 
their  friends  in  a  Protestant  gathering  in  Bow  Lane,  and 
afterwards  in  a  Catholic  Church,  in  consequence  of  which, 
according  to  Foxe,  both  were  burned.  But  a  part  of  what 
Foxe  wrote  about  Tewkesbury  in  one  edition  of  the  Acts  and 
Monuments  he  omitted  in  another,  patching  it  on  to  Bain- 
ham's  story,  thus  stultifying  himself  as  regards  both  stories,2 
and  affording  us  another  signal  illustration  of  the  irresponsible 
and  unscrupulous  way  in  which  he  could  deal  with  evidence. 

He  further  attributed  to  More  the  death  of  John  Frith,  who 

1  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  iv.,  p.  689  ;  Pratt's  ed. 
a  Vol.  iv.,  p.  702  ;  and  Appendix,  p.  769  ;  Pratt's  ed. 

R 


258  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

suffered  death  in  1533,  a  year  after  Sir  Thomas  had  laid  down 
his  office,  although  in  his  Apology,  the  ex-chancellor  referred  to 
Frith  as  being  then  in  the  Tower,  not  committed  by  him  but  by 
"  the  King's  Grace  and  his  Council." * 

Foxe  might  easily,  had  he  been  so  inclined,  have  veri- 
fied these  things  by  reference  to  the  thirty-sixth  chapter 
of  the  above-mentioned  Apology,  in  which  More  answered 
the  lies  "neither  few  nor  small  that  many  of  the  blessed 
brethren  have  made  and  daily  yet  make  by  me."  He  goes  on 
to  say : — 

"  Divers  of  them  have  said  that  of  such  as  were  in  my  house 
while  I  was  chancellor,  I  used  to  examine  them  with  torments, 
causing  them  to  be  bound  to  a  tree  in  my  garden,  and  there 
piteously  beaten.  And  this  tale  had  some  of  those  brethren  so 
caused  to  be  blown  about,  that  a  right  worshipful  friend  of  mine 
did  of  late,  within  less  than  this  fortnight,  tell  unto  another  near 
friend  of  mine  that  he  had  of  late  heard  much  speaking  thereof. 
What  cannot  these  brethren  say  that  can  be  so  shameless  to  say 
thus  ?  For  of  very  truth,  albeit  that  for  a  great  robbery,  or  a 
heinous  murder,  or  sacrilege  in  a  church,  with  carrying  away  the 
pix  with  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  or  villainously  casting  it  out,  I 
caused  sometimes  such  things  to  be  done  by  some  officers  of  the 
Marshalsea,  or  of  some  other  prisons,  with  which  ordering  of 
them,  and  without  any  great  hurt  that  afterwards  should  stick 
by  them,  I  found  out  and  repressed  many  such  desperate 
wretches,  as  else  had  not  failed  to  have  gone  farther ;  yet 
saving  the  sure  keeping  of  heretics,  I  never  did  cause  any  such 
thing  to  be  done  to  any  of  them  in  all  my  life  except  only 
twain." 

Of  these  two  instances  he  first  records  one  relating  to  a  child 
who  was  a  servant  in  his  house.  The  boy's  father  had  taught 
him  "  his  ungracious  heresy  against  the  Blessed  Sacrament  of 

1  Apology,  p.  887. 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  259 

the  Altar,"  which  heresy  the  boy  began  to  teach  another  child  in 
More's  house.  Thereupon,  More  caused  a  servant  of  his  "to 
stripe  him  like  a  child  "  before  the  whole  household,  "  for  amend- 
ment of  himself  and  example  of  such  others."  The  other  case 
was  that  of  a  man  who, "  after  that  he  had  fallen  into  that  frantic 
heresy,  fell  soon  after  into  plain  open  frenzy  besides."  The 
man  was  confined  in  Bedlam,  and  when  discharged  went  about 
disturbing  public  service  in  churches,  and  committing  acts  of 
great  indecency.  Devout,  religious  folk  besought  the  Chancellor 
to  restrain  him,  and  accordingly,  one  day  when  he  came  wander- 
ing by  More's  door,  he  caused  him  to  be  taken  by  the  con- 
stables, bound  to  a  tree  in  the  street  before  the  whole  town, 
"  and  there  they  striped  him  with  rods  till  he  waxed  weary, 
and  somewhat  longer."  More  ends  by  saying,  "  And  verily, 
God  be  thanked,  I  hear  none  harm  of  him  now.  And  of 
all  that  ever  came  in  my  hands  for  heresy,  as  help  me  God, 
saving  [as  I  said]  the  sure  keeping  of  them,  had  never  any  of 
them  stripe  or  stroke  given  them,  so  much  as  a  fillip  on  the 
forehead." 

He  then  goes  on  to  disprove  the  truth  of  a  story  spread 
about  by  Tindal,  concerning  the  beating  in  his  garden  of  a  man 
named  Segar.  This  story  Foxe  evidently  confused  with  the 
fable  of  Tewkesbury,  which  thus  completely  crumbles  to  pieces  ; 
for  as  Sir  James  Mackintosh  in  his  Life  of  More  says  : — 

"  This  statement  [More's  Apology]  so  minute,  so  easily  con- 
tradicted if  in  any  part  false,  was  made  public  after  his  fall  from 
power,  when  he  was  surrounded  by  enemies,  and  could  have  no 
friends  but  the  generous.  He  relates  circumstances  of  public 
notoriety,  or  at  least  so  known  to  all  his  household,  which  it 
would  have  been  rather  a  proof  of  insanity  than  of  imprudence 
to  have  alleged  in  his  defence  if  they  had  not  been  indisputably 
and  confessedly  true  .  .  .  Defenceless  and  obnoxious  as  More 
then  was,  no  man  was  hardy  enough  to  dispute  his  truth.  Foxe 
was  the  first,  who,  thirty  years  afterwards,  ventured  to  oppose  it 


260  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

in  a  vague  statement,  which  we  know  to  be  in  some  respects  in- 
accurate." l 

The  story  of  the  death  of  Robert  Packington,  mercer,  of 
London,  has  also  provided  Foxe  with  fertile  soil  for  raising  his 
usual  crop  of  calumny.  The  man  was  shot  dead  one  very  misty 
morning,  in  Cheapside,  according  to  most  chroniclers  in  1556, 
Foxe  says  in  1558,  as  he  was  crossing  the  road  from  his  house 
to  a  church  on  the  opposite  side,  where  he  intended  to  hear 
Mass.  Many  persons  were  suspected  of  the  murder,  but  none 
were  found  guilty.  Hall,  Grafton,  and  Bale  all  tell  the  story, 
but  the  martyrologist  added  thereto  an  accusation  against  an 
innocent  person,  which,  although  satisfactorily  refuted  by  Holin- 
shed,  remains  in  the  pages  of  the  Acts  and  Monuments  to  this 
day.  Foxe  says  : — 

"  The  murtherer  so  covertly  was  concealed,  till  at  length  by 
the  confession  of  Doctor  Incent,  Dean  of  St  Paul's,  in  his  death- 
bed it  was  known,  and  by  him  confessed  that  he  was  the  author 
thereof,  by  hiring  an  Italian  for  sixty  crowns  or  thereabouts  to 
do  the  feat.  For  the  testimony  whereof,  and  also  of  the 
repentant  words  of  the  said  Incent,  the  names,  both  of  them 
which  heard  him  confess  it,  and  of  them  which  heard  the 
witnesses  report  it,  remains  yet  in  memory  to  be  produced  if 
need  required."2 

But  Holinshed,  a  far  more  credible  witness  tells  us 
that  :— 

"  At  length  the  murtherer  indeed  was  condemned  at  Banbury, 
in  Oxfordshire,  to  die  for  a  felony  which  he  afterwards  com- 
mitted ;  and  when  he  came  to  the  gallows  in  which  he  suffered, 
he  confessed  that  he  did  this  murther  [that  of  Robert  Packing- 
ton],  and  till  that  time  he  was  never  had  in  any  suspicion  there- 
of."3 

1  Pp.  101,  105.  2  P.  525,  edited  1563. 

3  Chronicle,  fol.   ed.,  1586,  p.   944.     Answer  to  Foxe's  assertion.     Also 
Appendix  to  Cough's  Narratives,  pp.  296,  297. 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  261 

There  is  another  class  of  anecdote  in  the  Acts  and  Monu- 
ments, the  errors  of  which  do  not  lie  so  much  in  the  facts  of  the 
story  as  in  the  oblique  vision  of  Foxe  himself,  in  regarding  the 
dramatis  persona  as  heroes.  Thus,  a  madman  named  Collins, 
who,  entering  a  church  during  Mass,  seized  his  dog  at  the  Eleva- 
tion, and  held  it  over  his  head,  showing  it  to  the  people  in 
derision,  is  accounted  "  as  one  belonging  to  the  holy  company  of 
saints." l 

Cowbridge,  who  was  burned  at  Oxford,  was  one  who  would 
in  these  days  be  called  a  criminal  lunatic,  but  Foxe  regarded  him 
as  a  holy  martyr.  The  horrible  story  of  the  "  martyrdom  "  of 
three  women  of  Guernsey  rests  entirely  on  Foxe's  authority. 
It  was  immediately  contradicted.  Foxe  replied,  and  Father 
Persons  refuted  his  reply.  It  transpired  on  investigation  that 
all  three  women  were  hanged  as  thieves,  their  bodies  being 
afterwards  burned ;  one  of  them  had  led  an  openly  immoral 
life. 

Machyn  and  Wriothesley  chronicle  an  outbreak  of  fanaticism 
on  Easter  Sunday  1555.  An  ex-monk  named  Flower  rushed 
into  St  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster,  while  the  priest,  Sir 
John  Sleuther,  was  administering  Communion  to  his  parishioners. 
Foxe  tells  the  tale  succinctly  : — 

"  The  said  Flower,  upon  Easter  Day  last  past,  drew  his  wood 
knife,  and  strake  the  priest  upon  the  head,  hand,  and  arm,  who 
being  wounded  therewith,  and  having  a  chalice  with  consecrated 
hosts  therein  in  his  hand,  they  were  sprinkled  with  the  said 
priest's  blood." 2 

The  only  mistake  which  Foxe  here  makes  is  in  saying  that 
the  priest  was  Sir  John  Cheltham.  The  would-be  assassin 
harangued  his  victim  before  dealing  the  blow,  and  then  struck 
home  so  forcibly  that  the  priest  fell  as  if  dead.  A  tumult  arose, 
the  multitude  thinking  that  the  Spaniards  were  attacking  them. 
Flower  was  apprehended,  tried,  and  burned  for  heresy  and 

1  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  v.,  p.  25  ;  Pratt's  ed. 
-  Ibid.,  vol.  vii.,  p.  75. 


262  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

sedition,  on  the  spot  now  called  the  Broad  Sanctuary.  His 
claim  to  swell  Foxe's  calendar  of  "  martyrs  "  rests  solely  on  the 
motive  of  his  murderous  assault,  namely,  outrage  of  the  Blessed 
Sacrament. 

Another  martyr  of  Flower's  kidney  was  William  Gardiner, 
who  was  living  at  Lisbon  in  1552  as  agent  of  an  English 
mercantile  house. 

Foxe  describes  his  exploits  and  the  consequences  thereof  as 
"  The  history,  no  less  lamentable  than  notable,  of  William 
Gardiner,  an  Englishman  suffering  most  constantly  in  Portugal 
for  the  testimony  of  God's  truth."  Gardiner's  admiring 
biographer  relates  that  his  hero  twice  entered  a  church  (probably 
Lisbon  Cathedral)  with  intent  to  do  some  notable  thing  in  the 
king's  sight  and  presence.  The  first  time  was  on  the  occasion 
of  a  royal  marriage,  but  the  throng  was  so  great  that  he  could 
not  get  near  the  altar.  However,  on  the  following  Sunday, 
"the  said  William  was  present  early  in  the  morning,  very 
cleanly  apparelled,  even  of  purpose,  that  he  might  stand  near 
the  altar  without  repulse.  Within  a  while  cometh  the  king  with 
all  his  nobles.  Then  Gardiner  setteth  himself  as  near  the  altar 
as  he  might,  having  a  Testament  in  his  hand,  which  he  diligently 
read  upon  and  prayed,  until  the  time  was  come  that  he  had 
appointed  to  work  his  feat."  This  time  was  just  before  the 
Communion  of  the  priest,  who  was  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of 
Lisbon.  Gardiner  sprang  forward,  snatched  the  consecrated 
Host  from  his  hand,  trod  it  underfoot,  and  overturned  the 
chalice.  The  first  effect  of  this  outrage  was  to  strike  the  clergy 
and  congregation  dumb  with  amazement,  horror,  and  consterna- 
tion. In  Foxe's  words,  "this  matter  at  first  made  them  all 
abashed."  But  on  recovering  their  senses,  the  people  gave  vent 
to  their  indignation  in  shouts  and  cries  of  vengeance.  A  dagger 
was  drawn,  and  Gardiner  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder.  The 
man  who  struck  him  was  about  to  deal  another  blow,  when 
he  was  prevented  by  the  king  himself.  Gardiner  thereupon, 
being  in  the  hands  of  the  guards,  impudently  harangued  the 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  263 

people,  and  told  them  that  "  if  he  had  done  anything  which 
were  displeasant  unto  them,  they  ought  to  impute  it  unto 
no  man  but  unto  themselves,  who  so  irreverently  used 
the  Holy  Supper  of  the  Lord  unto  so  great  idolatry,  not 
without  great  ignominy  unto  the  church,  violation  of  the 
sacrament,  and  the  peril  of  their  own  souls,  except  they 
repented." 

The  Portuguese,  entirely  inexperienced  in  this  kind  of  fana- 
ticism, thought  that  Gardiner  must  be  a  political  agent,  with 
designs  on  the  safety  of  the  realm.  As  he  would  confess 
nothing  of  this  sort,  they  put  him  on  the  rack,  in  order  to 
extract  from  him  secrets  of  a  seditious  nature.  At  length,  as 
it  was  clear  that  heresy  and  sacrilege  were  the  crimes  in  which 
he  exulted,  they  burned  him  as  a  heretic,  he  maintaining, 
according  to  Foxe,  his  "  godly  mind  "  to  the  end,  declaring  even 
in  the  flames  that  "  he  had  done  nothing  whereof  he  did  repent 
him."  i 

Foxe  incidently  bears  witness  to  the  edifying  manner  in 
which  the  Portuguese  assisted  at  Mass,  the  people  standing 
"with  great  devotion  and  silence,  praying,  looking,  kneeling, 
and  knocking  [beating  their  breasts  in  token  of  compunction], 
their  minds  being  fully  bent  and  set,  as  it  is  the  manner,  upon 
the  external  sacrament"  2 

The  story  of  Bertrand  Le  Bias,  the  silk-weaver  of  Dornick, 
who  signalised  himself  in  the  same  riotous  manner  in  1555,  is 
said  to  have  ended  in  the  same  way,  Le  Bias  declaring  "  that  if  it 
were  a  thousand  times  to  be  done  he  would  do  it ;  and  if 
he  had  a  thousand  lives  he  would  give  them  all  in  that 
quarrel."  3 

But  these  are  all  ex  parte  statements  of  Foxe.  He  is 
thinking  of  nothing  but  of  pointing  his  own  particular  moral  and 
of  adorning  his  own  tale.  Historically,  his  evidence  is  valueless 

1  Acts  and  Monuments,  vi.  277  ;  Cattley's  ed. 

2  Ibid. 

3  Acts  and  Monuments,  vi.  393. 


264  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

unless  supported  by  more  careful  witnesses.  He  professes  to 
chronicle  the  martyrdom  at  Newent,  on  the  25th  September 
1556,  of  "John  Home  and  a  woman  "  ;  but  Deighton,  a  friendly 
critic,  pointed  out  that  this  story  was  nothing  more  or  less  than 
an  amplification  of  the  burning  of  Edward  Home,  which  Foxe 
had  already  recorded  as  having  taken  place  on  the  25th 
September  1558,  and  that  no  woman  suffered  at  either  of 
these  times.  Such  instances  might  be  pointed  out  ad 
infinitum. 

The  detestation  in  which  most  Englishmen  hold  the  names 
of  Stephen  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  of  Edmund 
Bonner,  Bishop  of  London,  is  entirely  owing  to  Foxe's 
calumnies. 

Although  Gardiner  had  been  deprived  of  his  see  for  his 
belief  in  Transubstantiation  in  Edward's  reign,  and  had  been 
sent  to  the  Tower  by  a  court  presided  over  by  Cranmer,  it  is 
certain  that  he  bore  the  archbishop  no  ill-will,  but  even  did  his 
best  to  save  Cranmer's  life  and  that  of  the  other  reformers  who 
refused  to  conform  to  the  old  religion  which  Mary  had  brought 
back.  It  was  his  duty  as  chancellor  to  enforce  the  law  of  the 
land,  in  the  matter  of  exterminating  heresy,  as  in  all  else,  but  he 
only  once  sat  on  a  commission,  gave  Cranmer  ample  opportunity 
to  escape  if  he  had  so  minded,  furnished  Peter  Martyr  with 
funds  to  take  him  abroad,  shielded  Thomas  Smith,  King 
Edward's  secretary,  from  persecution  on  account  of  his  heretical 
opinions,  and  even  allowed  him  a  yearly  pension  of  ;£ioo 
for  his  support.1  Of  Gardiner's  kindness  to  Roger  Ascham, 
the  latter  said, "  Stephen,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  High  Chancellor 
of  England,  treated  me  with  the  utmost  humanity  and  favour, 
so  that  I  cannot  easily  decide  whether  Paget  was  more  ready 
to  commend  me  or  Winchester  to  protect  and  benefit  me ; 
there  were  not  wanting  some,  who,  on  the  ground  of  religion, 
attempted  to  stop  the  flow  of  his  benevolence  towards  me,  but 
to  no  purpose.  I  owe  very  much  to  the  humanity  of  Winchester, 

1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  article,  "  Stephen  Gardiner." 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  265 

and  not  only  I,  but  many  others  also  have  experienced  his 
kindness." l 

One  of  the  "  many  others  "  was  John  Frith,  whom  Gardiner 
did  his  best  to  save  from  a  painful  death ; 2  and  even 
Northumberland  would  have  escaped  had  Gardiner's  voice 
prevailed  in  the  council.  Again,  Gardiner's  patriotism 
prompted  him  to  oppose  boldly  the  project  of  the  queen's 
marriage  with  Philip  of  Spain,  seeing  that  it  was  distaste- 
ful to  the  bulk  of  the  nation ;  yet,  when  he  recognised 
that  it  was  inevitable,  he  did  his  best  to  make  it  more 
popular. 

For  some  reason  known  doubtless  to  himself,  but  quite 
unknown  to  history,  the  martyrologist  represents  Gardiner  as 
keenly  desirous  to  hear  that  the  sentence  passed  on  Latimer 
and  Ridley  had  been  carried  out.  He  says : — 

"  The  same  day,  when  Bishop  Ridley  and  Master  Latimer 
suffered  at  Oxford  [being  about  the  19  day  of  October],  there 
came  into  the  house  of  Stephen  Gardiner  the  old  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  with  the  foresaid  Master  Munday,  his  secretary,  above 
named  reporter  hereof.  The  old  aged  duke,  there  waiting  and 
tarrying  for  his  dinner,  the  bishop  being  not  yet  disposed  to  dine, 
deferred  the  time  to  three  or  four  o'clock  at  afternoon.  At 
length  about  four  of  the  clock  cometh  his  servant,  posting  in  all 
possible  speed  from  Oxford,  bringing  intelligence  to  the  bishop 
what  he  had  heard  and  seen ;  of  whom  the  said  bishop, 
inquiring  the  truth  of  the  matter,  and  learning  by  his  man  that 
fire  most  certainly  was  set  unto  them,  cometh  out  rejoicing  to 
the  duke.  "  Now,"  saith  he,  "  let  us  go  to  dinner."  Whereupon 
they  being  set  down,  meat  immediately  was  brought,  and  the 
bishop  began  merrily  to  eat.  But  what  followed  ?  The 
bloody  tyrant  had  not  eaten  a  few  bits,  but  the  sudden  stroke 
of  God's  terrible  hand  fell  upon  him  in  such  sort,  as  immediately 

1  Epis.  p.  51  ;  Oxford  ed.,  1703. 

-  Grenville,  MS.  11,990;  Letters  and  papers,  6,600. 


266  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AMD  CLOISTER 

he  was  taken  from  the  table,  and  so  brought  to  his  bed  in  such 
intolerable  anguish  and  torments,  that  .  .  .  whereby  his  body 
being  miserably  inflamed  within  (who  had  inflamed  so 
many  good  martyrs  before)  was  brought  to  a  miserable 
end." 

Foxe  relates  this  story  at  third  hand,  as  was  his  wont,  but 
it  fitted  in  so  admirably  with  his  favourite  theory  in  regard  to 
the  temporal  judgments  of  God  on  miscreants — and  Gardiner 
to  his  way  of  thinking  was  certainly  a  miscreant  of  the  first 
rank — that  he  could  not  afford  to  be  fastidious  as  to  its 
veracity.  For  he  must  surely  have  known  that  "the  old 
Duke  of  Norfolk  could  not  have  dined  with  Gardiner  on  or 
about  the  igth  October  1555,  having  been  in  his  grave  since 
August  1553  ;  and  as  for  "the  sudden  stroke  of  God's  terrible 
hand,"  by  which  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  was  "brought  to 
a  miserable  end,"  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  the 
Venetian  ambassador,  resident  in  England,  to  the  Doge  and 
Senate,  written  on  the  i6th  September  1555,  gives  a  totally 
different  account  of  the  illness  from  which  Gardiner  died  on 
the  1 2th  November: — 

"After  the  chancellor's  return  »from  the  conference  at 
Calais,"  writes  the  Venetian  chronicler  of  current  events,  "he 
fell  into  such  a  state  of  appilation  [sic]  that  besides  having 
become  [as  the  physicians  say]  jaundiced,  he  by  degrees  got 
confirmed  dropsy,  and  had  it  not  been  for  his  robust  constitu- 
tion, a  variety  of  remedies  prescribed  for  him  by  the  English 
physicians  having  been  of  no  use,  he  would  by  this  time  be 
in  a  bad  way,  his  physiognomy  being  so  changed  as  to  astound 
all  who  see  him.  The  Emperor  had  sent  him  the  remedy  he 
used  when  first  troubled  with  dropsical  symptoms,  on  his 
return  from  the  war  of  Metz,  which  remedy. cured  him,  and 
should  God  grant  that  it  take  the  same  effect  on  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  it  will  be  very  advantageous  for  England,  he 
being  considered  one  of  the  most  consummate  chancellors 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  267 

who  have  filled  the  post  for  many  years,  and  should  he  die, 
he  would  leave  few  or  none  so  well  suited  to  the  charge  as 
himself."1 

On  the  2 1st  October,  the  queen  opened  Parliament  in 
person,  and  Gardiner  mortally  ill,  rose  from  the  bed  to  which 
he  had  been  for  weeks  confined,  in  order  to  introduce  a  Bill 
for  the  granting  of  much  needed  supplies  to  the  Crown. 
Michiel,  the  Venetian  envoy,  continuing  his  letter  says : — 

"  After  the  Mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  sung  by  the  Bishop 
of  Ely,  and  the  sermon  preached  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
her  Majesty  proceeded  into  the  great  hall,  where,  in  the  presence 
of  all  those  officially  summoned,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  having 
rallied  a  little,  choosing  at  anyrate  to  be  there,  in  order  not 
to  fail  performing  his  office  on  this  occasion,  made  the  usual 
proposal,  stating  the  cause  for  assembling  Parliament,  which 
was  in  short  solely  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  pecuniary 
supply." 

Mary  had  succeeded  to  a  treasury  rich  only  in  debt,  and 
her  need  of  money  to  carry  on  the  government  was  urgent. 
Gardiner  made  a  long  and  effective  speech,  the  result  of  which 
was,  that  Parliament  at  once  voted  a  million  of  gold  to  be  levied 
in  two  years  from  the  laity,  in  four  from  the  clergy.  But 
exhausted  by  his  effort,  and  so  weak  that  he  was  unable  to 
return  to  his  own  house,  the  dying  chancellor  was  accommodated 
at  Whitehall,  where  he  met  his  end  peacefully  three  weeks 
later.  He  desired  during  his  last  days  that  the  Passion  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  might  be  read  to  him,  and  when  the 
reader  came  to  the  contrition  of  St  Peter,  Gardiner  exclaimed, 
"  Negavi  cum  Petro,  exivi  cum  Petro,  sed  nondum  flevi  amare 
cum  Petro  /"  alluding  to  his  weakness  and  fall  in  Henry  VIII. 's 
reign.2 

1  Giovanni  Michiel  to  the  Doge  and  Senate,  Calendar  of  State  Papers, 
Venetian,  vol.  vi.,  part,  i.,  215  ;  edited  by  Rawdon  Brown. 

2  Wardword,  48  ;    Lingard,  History  of  England,  vol.  v.,  p.  243,  note, 
6th  ed. 


268  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

The  view  which  Foxe  presents  of  Bonner,  Bishop  of  London, 
in  the  administration  of  his  office,  is  as  distorted  and  malicious 
as  his  libellous  picture  of  Gardiner.  The  pages  of  the  Acts 
and  Monuments,  which  describe  Bonner's  examination  of  those 
brought  before  him  on  charges  of  heresy,  teem  with  such 
picturesque  epithets  as  "  this  bloody  wolf,"  the  "  Bishop  was  in  a 
marvellous  rage  "  or  "  in  a  great  fury,"  but  when  we  read  what 
Bonner  really  said,  we  find  nothing  to  justify  these  exaggerated 
expressions. 

On  one  occasion,  when  Bonner  was  supposed  by  the 
martyrologist  to  be  in  such  "  a  raging  heat "  that  he  appeared 
"  as  one  clean  void  of  humanity,"  we  read  on,  expecting  to  find 
some  brutal  and  heartless  words  whereby  he  crushed  the  meek 
spirit  of  the  martyr  before  him.  The  scene  was  Cranmer's 
degradation  at  Oxford,  with  which  solemn  and  painful  act 
Bonner  was  charged;  but  the  strongest  words  used  by  the 
bishop  in  answer  to  Cranmer's  continued  protests  and  recrimi- 
nations were,  according  to  Foxe  himself,  merely  that  "  for  his 
inordinate  contumacy,  he  denied  him  to  speak  any  more, 
saying  that  he  had  used  himself  very  disobediently."1 

By  Foxe's  own  showing,  when  brought  before  the  bishops, 
the  "  marytrs  "  frequently  twitted  their  judges,  gave  them  home- 
thrusts  and  "  privy  nips,"  and  behaved  themselves  generally  in 
a  very  provocative  and  irritating  manner.  It  is  surprising, 
nevertheless,  to  find  how  very  seldom  the  examiners  lost  their 
tempers,  bearing  with  a  considerable  amount  of  insolence  in 
a  singularly  good-humoured  spirit,  doing  their  best  to  give 
the  accused  a  chance  of  escape.  Of  the  six  who  came  under 
Bonner's  examination  on  the  8th  February  1555,  Foxe  affirms 
that  the  Bishop  of  London  sentenced  them  the  day  after  they 
were  charged,  and  killed  them  out  of  hand  without  mercy, 
"  such  quick  speed  these  men  could  make  in  dispatching  their 
business  at  once  " — a  terrible  indictment  if  there  were  a  shadow 
of  truth  in  it.  But  Bonner  not  only  knew  all  about  the  six 
1  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  v.,  p.  765  ;  Cattley's  ed. 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  269 

heretics  long  before  the  8th  February,  three  of  them  having 
been  in  prison  for  months,  where  he  had  again  and  again 
reasoned  with  them ;  but  after  sentence  had  been  passed,  an 
interval  of  five  weeks  was  the  shortest  respite  granted  to  them 
for  reflection  before  any  one  of  them  was  executed.  The 
others  suffered  consecutively  on  the  26th,  28th,  and  29th 
March,  the  last  of  the  six  on  the  roth  June. 

With  as  little  regard  for  truth  did  Foxe  pen  the  remarkable 
distich,  which  well  served  his  purpose  of  villifying  Bonner  in 
the  minds  of  his  confiding  and  credulous  readers  : — 

"  This  cannibal  in  three  years'  space  three  hundred  martyrs  slew, 
They  were  his  food,  he  loved  so  blood,  he  spared  none  he  knew." 

Lingard  estimates  that  about  two  hundred  persons  suffered 
for  their  religious  opinions  during  the  reign  of  Mary.  The  fact 
is  no  doubt  an  appalling  one,  and  horrifies  us  with  a  sense  of  the 
barbarism  that  prevailed  so  recently  as  three  and  a  half  centuries 
ago  in  England.  But  when  we  consider  the  outrages  of  which 
numbers  of  them  were  guilty,  the  danger  which  they  constituted 
to  the  realm,  we  cannot  help  agreeing  with  Cobbett  when  he 
says  that  "  the  real  truth  about  these  martyrs  is  that  they  were 
generally  a  set  of  most  wicked  wretches  who  sought  to  destroy 
the  queen  and  her  government,  and  under  the  pretence  of  con- 
science and  superior  piety,  to  obtain  the  means  of  again  preying 
upon  the  people." l 

Moreover,  portentous  as  the  numbers  appear  to  us,  they  are 
small  compared  with  those  which  represented  Henry's  ruthless 
severity  after  the  Northern  Rising,  when  the  whole  country 
was  covered  with  gibbets,  and  with  those  of  Elizabeth's  victims 
who  were  hanged,  cut  down  alive,  drawn  and  quartered,  for 
practising  the  religion  that  had  been  taught  in  England  since 
it  was  a  Christian  country.  Nor  did  the  persecution  of  Catholics 
cease  at  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  reigns  of  the  Stuart 
kings,  the  Commonwealth,  and  even  the  Hanoverian  regime 
1  History  of  the  Reformation,  edited  by  Abbot  Gasquet,  p.  207. 


270  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

testify  to  the  cruel  insistance  with  which  Catholic  priests  were 
hunted  to  death,  and  the  Catholic  laity  imprisoned  and  im- 
poverished for  their  loyalty  to  the  oldest  faith  of  Christendom. 

Bonner  had  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  revival  of 
the  statute  De  Heresia,  but  good  or  bad,  it  was  the  law  of  the 
land,  and  he  could  no  more  help  sitting  on  the  bench  in  his  own 
diocese  to  examine  offences  against  it,  than  could  any  other 
judge  refuse  to  sit  in  any  court  over  which  he  had  jurisdiction. 
Of  the  two  hundred  who  were  condemned  on  this  statute  during 
Mary's  reign,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  were  sent  to 
Bonner's  court  for  judgment,  the  city  of  London  being  the 
centre  and  hot-bed  of  the  new,  revolutionary  doctrines.  Thus, 
Foxe's  assertion  that  "  this  cannibal  three  hundred  martyrs 
slew,"  must  be  reduced  to  nearly  one-third  of  that  number.  His 
supposed  thirst  for  blood  was  also  as  much  a  lie  as  that  other 
figment  of  the  martyrologist's  brain  which  represented  both 
Gardiner  and  Bonner  as  having  a  violent  personal  grudge 
against  those  who  were  brought  before  them  for  examination. 
Bonner,  as  well  as  Gardiner,  laboured,  and  not  unsuccessfully  in 
many  instances,  in  causing  heretics  to  recant,  upon  which  they 
were  restored  to  liberty. 

A  striking  yet  dispassionate  portrait  of  Edmund  Bonner, 
from  the  pen  of  the  late  Dr  S.  R.  Maitland,  one  of  the  most 
scholarly  and  painstaking  historians  of  the  last  century, 
forms  a  vivid  contrast  to  Foxe's  caricature  of  the  Bishop  of 
London. 

"  Setting  aside  declamation,  and  looking  at  the  details  of  facts 
left  by  those  who  may  be  called,  if  people  please,  Bonner's 
victims  and  their  friends,  we  find  very  consistently  maintained 
the  character  of  a  man,  straightforward  and  hearty,  familiar 
and  humorous,  sometimes  rough,  perhaps  coarse,  naturally  hot- 
tempered,  but  obviously  [by  the  testimony  of  his  enemies] 
placable  and  easily  entreated,  capable  of  bearing  most  patiently 
intemperate  and  violent  language,  much  reviling  and  low  abuse 
directed  against  himself  personally,  against  his  order,  and  against 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  271 

those  peculiar  doctrines  and  practices  of  his  church,  for  main- 
taining which  he  had  himself  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  and 
borne  long  imprisonment.  At  the  same  time,  not  incapable  of 
being  provoked  into  saying  harsh  and  passionate  things,  but 
much  more  frequently  meaning  nothing  by  the  threatenings 
and  slaughter  which  he  breathed  out,  than  to  intimidate  those 
on  whose  ignorance  and  simplicity,  argument  seemed  to  be 
thrown  away ;  in  short,  we  can  scarcely  read  with  attention  any 
one  of  the  cases  detailed  by  those  who  were  no  friends  of 
Bonner,  without  seeing  in  him  a  judge  who  [even  if  we  grant 
that  he  was  dispensing  bad  laws  badly]  was  obviously  desirous 
to  save  the  prisoner's  life." l 

We  have  disposed  at  some  length  elsewhere  of  Foxe's 
shameless  calumny  of  Sir  Henry  Bedingfeld,  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower  of  London,  and  custodian  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  at 
Woodstock  when  she  was  suspected  of  connivance  in  Wyatt's 
rebellion.  In  espousing  Elizabeth's  cause,  and  in  casting  asper- 
sions on  one  who  was  responsible  for  her  safe  custody,  Foxe  was 
but  following  his  general  plan  of  campaign,  the  not  very  subtle 
plan  of  representing  all  those  of  his  own  party  to  be  saints  and 
martyrs,  the  enemy  deserving  every  abusive  term  that  came  to 
his  facile  pen.  This  simple  method  attained  its  object  pro- 
bably beyond  the  wildest  dreams  of  its  author.  All  along  the 
ages  the  Protestant  world  has  believed  implicitly  in  the  fables 
invented  by  Foxe,  and  even  in  these  days  of  critical  analysis, 
although  innumerable  experts  have  given  him  the  lie,  the  effect 
of  his  calumnies  remain  in  the  deeply  rooted  prejudice  of  the 
nation.2  Moreover,  like  every  other  succes  de  scandale,  the 

1  Essays  on  Subjects  connected  with  the  Reformation,  by  S.  R.  Maitland, 
D.D.,   F.R.S.,   F.S.A.,   sometime  librarian   and  keeper   of   the    MSS.   at 
Lambeth,  p.  423. 

2  The  late  Dr  Littledale  lecturing  at  Liverpool  on  Innovations  in  1868 
said  :  "  Two  mendacious  partizans,  the  infamous  Foxe  and  the  not  much 
more  respectable  Burnet  have  so  overlaid  all  the  history  of  the  Reformation 
with  falsehood,  that  it  has  been  well-nigh  impossible  for  readers  to  get  at 
the  facts,"  p.  16.     And  later  on  he  refers  to  the  Book  of  Martyrs  as  "  that 
magazine  of  lying  bigotry,"  p.  21. 


272  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

book  brought  a  rich  harvest  to  its  author.  He  was  a.most 
penniless  when  he  returned  to  England  in  1559,  but  the  English 
version  of  his  work,  first  published  in  1563,  made  his  fortune. 
The  Catholics  called  it  derisively  Foxe's  Golden  Legend.  In 
1570  a  second  edition  was  printed  in  two  volumes  folio,  and 
Convocation  decreed  that  the  book,  designated  by  the  canon  as 
Monumenta  Martyrum,  should  be  placed  in  cathedral  churches, 
and  in  the  houses  of  the  great  ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  This 
decree,  although  never  confirmed  by  parliament,  was  so  much  in 
accordance  with  the  Puritan  tone  of  the  whole  Church  of 
England  at  that  time,  that  even  parish  churches  far  and  wide 
were  furnished  with  copies  of  the  work,  chained  side  by  side 
with  the  Bible.  In  the  vestry  minutes  of  St  Michael's  Church, 
Cornhill,  of  nth  January  1571-72,  it  is  ordered  "that  the  booke 
of  Martyrs  of  Mr  Foxe,  and  the  paraphrases  [of  the  gospel]  of 
Erasmus  [pace  Erasmus]  shalbe  bowght  for  the  church  and  tyed 
with  a  chain  to  the  Egle  bras"  A  few  years  ago,  mutilated 
copies  of  the  Acts  and  Monuments  might  still  be  seen  chained 
in  the  parish  churches  of  Apethorpe  (Northamptonshire), 
Arreton  (Isle  of  Wight),  Chelsea,  Eustone  (Oxfordshire),  Kniver 
(Staffordshire),  Lussingham  (Norfolk),  Stratford-on- Avon,  (War- 
wickshire) Waltham,  St  Cuthbert  (Wells) ; x  also  in  that  of 
Lutterworth  and  many  other  places.  At  Cheddar  not  very  long 
ago  was  a  great  black-letter  copy  of  the  Acts  and  Monuments 
chained  to  the  reading  desk,  and  it  is  stated  in  the  Life  of  Lord 
Macaulay  that  as  a  child,  the  sight  of  it  used  to  fascinate  him  as 
he  sat  on  Sunday  afternoons  in  the  family-pew,  longing  to  get 
at  the  bewitching  pages. 

No  more  potent  means  could  have  been  devised  for  saturat- 
ing the  national  mind  with  the  principles  of  the  Reformation 
than  the  diffusion  of  the  Book  of  Martyrs  on  this  gigantic  scale. 
In  a  few  years  there  was  scarcely  a  parish  church  in  England 
that  did  not  possess  a  chained  copy  of  the  work.  The  illiterate 
might  frequently  be  seen  standing  in  a  group  round  the  lectern, 
1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  article  "John  Foxe," 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  273 

while  one  among  them  better  instructed  than  the  rest  read  to 
them  aloud  its  graphic  and  lying  legends.  Added  to  this,  in 
many  churches  a  chapter  was  read  to  the  assembled  congrega- 
tions every  Sunday  evening  along  with  the  Bible,  and  the  clergy 
constantly  made  its  dubious  martyrdoms  the  subject  of  their 
sermons.  No  wonder  that  it  assumed  an  importance  equal  to 
that  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  One  of  the  indictments 
against  Archbishop  Laud  at  his  trial  was  the  fact  that  he  had 
ordered  it  to  be  removed  from  some  churches  in  his  diocese.1 

The  secret  of  its  charm  for  Puritan  England  did  not 
altogether  lie  in  its  Anti-Marian  character,  or  in  the  partisan- 
ship of  its  garbled  facts  and  fictitious  heroisms.  The  simplicity 
of  its  vigorous  English,  the  picturesque  though  minute  circum- 
stances which  it  detailed,  the  very  boldness  with  which  it  lied, 
in  league  with  the  primary  passions  to  which  it  appealed,  made 
it  one  of  the  most  powerful  engines  in  the  revolution  that 
gradually  changed  the  face  of  the  whole  country.  Its  deadly 
work  of  destruction  has  been  effectually  accomplished,  and  it  is 
almost  useless  to  attempt  to  convince  a  people  into  whose  frame 
and  tissue  its  stories  have  been  woven,  that  the  Protestant 
Reformation  in  which  they  so  implicitly  believe  is  but  a  fairy- 
tale for  the  invention  of  which  John  Foxe  is  mainly  responsible. 
Gairdner,  in  his  History  of  the  English  Church  in  the  Sixteenth 
Century,  a  book  of  the  very  first  importance  for  any  serious 
study  of  the  period,  has  again  and  again  expressed  his  opinion 
of  the  worthlessness  of  the  Acts  and  Monuments  as  history  ;  and 
the  Rev.  John  Gerard 2  has  been  at  the  pains  of  collecting 
the  learned  historian's  remarks  on  Foxe's  compilation.  He 
says : — 

"But  more  damaging  than  any  other  is  the  criticism  which 
Foxe  receives  at  the  hands  of  Mr  James  Gairdner,  the 
fullness  of  whose  knowledge  is  matched  only  by  the  calm 

1  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  article  "John  Foxe." 

2  In  his  pamphlet,  John  Foxe  and  his  Book  of  Martyrs,  Catholic  Truth 
Society. 

S 


274  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

judicial  manner    in    which   he   deals   with    the   martyrologist's 
stories  as  he  encounters  them  in  his  own  history.     Discussing 
each    case    on    its    merits,    and    giving    full    weight    to    the 
evidence  on  either  side,  Mr  Gairdner  finds  charges  of  untruth- 
fulness  and  dishonesty    established    at   every   turn.     Foxe,  he 
declares,  ignores  or  misrepresents  evidence   that   tells   against 
him  [p.  38] ;  he  manipulates  it  to   suit   his    purpose   [56] ;    he 
counts    as    martyrs    offenders    of    all    kinds  [i29n];    he   'was 
above  all  things  credulous'  [131] ;  he  tells  stories,  the  falsehood 
of  which  may  be  gathered  from    his   own   relation    [ibid] ;    he 
suppresses  facts  furnished  by  the  authorities   upon    whom    he 
draws  [133];    he    insinuates    what    is    utterly  false    [135];    he 
evidently  wishes  his  readers  to  understand  what  he  does   not 
venture   openly   to   say    [220-21];   he    prejudices    readers    by 
irrelevant  gibes  [271];  he   has    made   people   believe    what    is 
untrue  [333] ;  he  was  quite  as  prejudiced    and    unfair    as   the 
notorious  Bishop  Bale  [342] ;  his  narrative  has  been    exposed 
as  untrustworthy  by  reason  of  its  bias,  but  has  not  even   yet 
been  subjected  to  complete  and  thorough  criticism    [352].     In 
consequence  of  all  this,  says  Mr  Gairdner,  Foxe  has  given    a 
false  colour  to  the  history  of  the  times,  and  especially  to  the 
sentiments  and  motives  of  the  persecutors.     '  It  is  quite  untrue, 
as  Foxe  and  his  school   have   made   the   world   believe,   that 
the  authorities  were  savage  or  ferocious.  .  .  .  The   burning  of 
heretics  was   a  barbarous  old-fashioned  remedy,  but  it  is  not 
true   that   either   the   bishops   or   the   government    adopted  it 
without  reluctance'  [349,  355].     And  again,  a  royal  commission, 
issued  on  8th  February   1557,  is   printed   by   Foxe   with   the 
title,  '  A   bloody  commission  giver!  forth  by  K.  Philip  and  Q. 
Mary  to  persecute   the  poor  members  of  Christ.'     If  we  read 
the  preamble,  however,  we  find  that  it  was   provoked   by  the 
assiduous  propagation  of  a  number  of  slanderous  and  seditious 
rumours,  along  with  which  the  sowing  of  heresies  and  heretical 
opinions  was  merely  a  concurrent'  [387]." 

Nevertheless,  that   the   influence  of  Foxe   is   not   by   any 


FOXE'S  BOOK  OF  ERRORS  275 

means  extinct  in  our  own  day,  is  proved  by  the  successive 
republications  of  his  book  during  the  nineteenth  century.  In 
1836  the  plea  for  a  new  edition  was  put  forward  in  a  letter 
to  the  editor  of  the  Record  in  these  astounding  terms : — 

"When  we  consider  the  high  character  of  the  work  for 
accuracy  of  detail ;  its  full  exhibition  of  the  Gospel  in  all  its 
holy  and  triumphant  efficacy  ;  the  bulwark  it  has  proved  to 
our  Protestant  faith  ;  its  peculiar  seasonableness  to  meet  all 
the  fresh  dangers  from  Popery  in  the  present  times ;  and  its 
intrinsic  value,  as  forming  a  sound  standard  of  Reformation 
divinity,  we  find  it  an  exercise  of  Christian  charity  to  call 
the  public  attention  to  it.  We  might  further  adduce  the 
imprimatur  of  our  own  Church,  by  her  act  of  Convocation 
appending  it  to  all  the  ecclesiastical  establishments  in  the 
land,  as  giving  to  Foxe's  work,  an  additional  claim  of 
regard." 

Between  the  years  1836-41,  therefore,  a  new  edition  was 
published  by  the  Rev.  S.  R.  Cattley,  with  a  Life  and  Vindica- 
tion of  John  Foxe,  by  Prebendary  Townsend  of  Durham. 

The  Rev.  Josiah  Pratt  reprinted  it  in  1 846-49 ;  another 
edition,  purporting  to  be  corrected  by  the  Rev.  Josiah  Pratt, 
the  younger,  appearing  in  1853.  But  the  Life  and  Vindication 
had  been  so  greatly  discredited  in  the  attack  made  upon  it 
by  Dr  S.  R.  Maitland,  that  when  the  Religious  Tract  Society 
published  an  edition  of  the  Acts  and  Monuments  in  1877, 
mainly  from  the  stereotype  plates  of  that  of  1853,  tne7  thought 
it  prudent  to  omit  that  part  altogether,  Dr  Stoughton,  one 
of  the  honorary  secretaries  of  the  Society,  substituting  an 
Introduction,  a  work  which  is,  however,  as  much  open  to 
criticism  as  Townsend's. 

A  cheap  edition  had  already  appeared  in  1868  with  a 
preface  by  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  in  which  his  lordship  said 
that  :— 

"  The  Convocation  of  the  English  clergy  did  wisely,  when 
in  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  they  enacted  that  every  parish 


276  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Church  [sic]  in  this  land  should  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of 
Foxe's  Book  of  Martyrs" 

There  is  also  an  illustrated  edition  published  by  Messrs 
Cassell ;  and  the  Religious  Tract  Society  still  continues  to 
make  the  Acts  and  Monuments  the  subject  of  a  quiet  but 
active  propaganda  in  evangelical  interests,  offering  the  book 
at  a  reduced  price  to  students,  teachers,  and  public  libraries, 
sometimes  even  presenting  it  as  a  free  gift. 


Photo  by  Kwry  Walker. 

SIR  ROBERT  COTTON. 

From  a  Portrait  by  Thornhill,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


[To  face  page  277. 


IV 
THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES 

THE  great,  perhaps  the  sole  repositories  of  the  early  historical 
and  topographical  records  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
from  the  introduction  of  Christianity  until  the  introduction  of 
printing,  were  the  monasteries.  Throughout  the  middle  ages 
these  libraries  were  the  homes,  in  many  instances  the  birth- 
places of  treasures  which  would  have  been  hopelessly  lost 
or  destroyed  in  those  rough  times  but  for  the  shelter  thus 
afforded  them.  The  monks  were  constantly  employed  in 
writing,  copying,  and  ornamenting  manuscripts,  while  State 
papers  and  parliamentary  rolls  were  deposited  in  their  archives 
for  safety.  Moreover,  as  they  were  known  to  be  rich,  and  to 
care  for  such  things,  books  were  brought  to  them  from  time  to 
time  for  sale  by  those  in  need  of  money.  There  was 
scarcely  any  religious  house  but  had  a  library,  and  many 
of  them  were  very  good  ones.  Some  data  have  come  down 
to  us  by  which  we  can  form  an  estimate  of  their  bulk  and 
value. 

The  books  which  St  Augustine  brought  with  him  from 
Rome,  together  with  those  of  Theodore,  formed  the  nucleus 
of  the  well-known  monastic  library  at  Canterbury.  In  the 
library  at  Peterborough  there  were  no  fewer  than  170x3  MSS. 
That  of  the  Grey  Friars  in  London  was  129  feet  long  by  31 
feet  broad,  and  was  well  filled  with  books.  That  the  Abbey 


278  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

of  Leicester  and  the  Priory  of  Dover  had  no  mean  libraries 
appears  from  the  catalogues  of  their  books  yet  remaining  in 
the  Bodleian.  Ingulf  tells  us  that  when  the  library  at  Croyland 
was  burned  in  1091,  the  monks  lost  700  books.  The  great 
library  at  Wells  had  twenty-five  windows  on  each  side,  a  fact 
which  gives  us  some  notion  of  the  space  required  to  contain 
all  the  volumes  possessed  by  this  monastery.1 

In  the  English  preface  to  Dugdale's  Monasticon  mention 
is  made  of  the  "  incredible  number  of  books  written  by  the 
monks,"  and  it  would  be  easy  to  multiply  illustrations  of  this 
kind,  and  to  collect  notes  of  the  indiscriminate  destruction 
that  took  place  at  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries  under 
Henry  VIII.,  when  the  contents  of  these  libraries  were  sold 
as  waste  paper. 

"  I  know  a  merchant  man,"  wrote  Bale,  Bishop  of  Ossory 
as  quoted  by  Leland,  "which  at  this  time  shall  be  nameless, 
that  bought  the  contents  of  two  noble  libraries  for  forty 
shillings  apiece.  A  shame  it  is  to  be  spoken.  This  stuff 
hath  he  occupied,  instead  of  grey  paper,  by  the  space  of  more 
than  these  ten  years,  and  yet  he  hath  store  enough  for  as 
many  years  to  come.  A  prodigious  example  is  this,  and  to 
be  abhorred  of  all  men  which  love  their  nation  as  they  should 
do.  Yea,  what  may  bring  our  realm  to  more  shame  and 
rebuke  than  to  have  it  noised  abroad  that  we  are  despisers 
of  learning  ?  I  judge  this  to  be  true,  and  utter  it  with  heavi- 
ness, that  neither  the  Britons  under  the  Romans,  nor  yet 
the  English  people  under  the  Danes  and  Normans  had  ever 
such  damage  of  their  learned  monuments  as  we  have  seen 
in  our  time.  Our  posterity  may  well  curse  this  wicked  fact 
of  our  age,  this  unreasonable  spoil  of  England's  most  noble 
antiquities." 

Centuries  had  been  spent  in  collecting  that  which  a  few  short 
months  had  sufficed  to  scatter  abroad,  and  Bishop  Tanner 
also  mentions  with  sorrow  the  loss  of  a  great  number  of 
1  Tanner,  Notitia  Monastic^  preface,  p.  xl.,  edited  1744. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  279 

excellent  books,  to  the  unspeakable  detriment  of  the    learned 
world. 

For  a  time,  this  havoc  of  the  monastic  libraries  went  on 
unchecked,  but  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  a  reaction  set 
in,  and  there  arose  a  little  knot  of  men  who  had  the  good 
sense  to  recognise  the  value  of  these  memorials  of  the  past, 
and  to  treasure  up  what  still  remained  ;  and  the  next  genera- 
tion produced  such  men  as  Thomas  Bodley,  and  Robert  Cotton. 
These  were  followed  by  others  of  kindred  tastes,  to  whom 
more  golden  opportunities  of  acquiring  valuable  treasure-trove 
were  afforded. 

We  shall  confine  ourselves  here  to  the  most  illustrious 
of  these  collectors,  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  whose  library  now 
forms  the  basis  of  the  national  collection  in  the  British 
Museum. 

The  era  of  English  libraries  began  with  Matthew  Parker's 
gift  to  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  a  collection  of 
books  which  has  preserved  from  destruction  more  materials 
relating  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  country 
than  had  ever  before  been  gathered  into  one  library.  Fuller 
styled  this  munificent  bequest  "  the  Sun  of  English  antiquity, 
before  it  was  eclipsed  by  that  of  Sir  Robert  Cotton." 

Sir  Thomas  Bodley  was  one  of  the  first  men  in  Europe 
to  conceive  the  notion  of  a  great  public  library,  and  the  rich 
collection  of  books  which  he  made  at  Oxford  on  the  ruins  of 
Duke  Humphrey's  library,  and  which  he  bequeathed  to  the 
University,  is  not  merely  of  European,  but  of  world-wide 
celebrity.  Living  as  he  did  at  Oxford  in  a  learned  atmosphere, 
he  naturally  turned  his  chief  attention  to  Latin  manuscripts, 
while  Cotton  made  English  history  his  special  study,  and  was 
ever  on  the  alert  for  material  to  throw  fresh  light  upon  its 
annals.  Hence  the  numerous  Anglo-Saxon  MSS.  in  his 
library,  and  the  splendid  collection  of  State  papers,  relating 
to  England,  Scotland,  and  France,  contained  in  the  press 
marked  Caligula,  and  in  many  other  places, 


280  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Cotton  and  Bodley  were  good  friends,  and  not  only  shared 
the  same  tastes,  but  sympathised  actively  with  each  other's 
work.  In  1595  Bodley  wrote  to  Cotton,  asking  him  whether 
he  held  to  his  "  old  intention  for  helping  to  furnish  the  Universitie 
librarie,"  and  in  1601  he  acknowledges  having  received  from 
Cotton  a  contribution  of  manuscripts  for  that  purpose.  These 
manuscripts  were  eleven  in  number,  the  titles  of  which  may 
be  seen  in  Smith's  manuscript  notes  to  his  catalogue  in  the 
Bodleian  library. 

Bodley  on  his  part  was  no  less  generous.  A  folio  volume 
on  vellum,  containing  the  four  Gospels,  the  four  Dialogues  of 
St  Gregory,  and  some  other  articles,  the  whole  in  Saxon, 
and  consisting  of  290  leaves,  was  a  part  of  his  contribution  to 
the  Cottonian  collection.1  The  contents  of  this  volume,  as 
described  by  Wanley,  show  it  to  have  been  of  exceeding  great 
value,  but  since  his  time  twenty-five  folios  have  been  lost. 
When  Planta  compiled  his  catalogue  he  affixed  a  note  to 
the  effect  that  the  manuscript  was  so  burnt  and  contracted 
as  to  render  the  binding  of  it  impracticable,  and  that  it  was 
preserved  in  a  case.  Later  on  it  passed  through  the  restoring 
hands  of  Sir  Frederick  Madden. 

Cotton  was  neither  a  great  scholar,  nor  did  he  produce 
any  original  work  of  special  value,  but  he  seems  to  have 
possessed  the  tact  and  the  taste  to  divine,  and  also  encourage 
talents  superior  to  his  own,  thereby  deserving  no  less  well 
of  his  country  than  those  who  served  her  with  higher  gifts. 
His  friend  Gondomar,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  once  called 
him  an  "engrosser  of  antiquities."  If  we  add  that  he  did 
not  merely  "  engross,"  but  that  he  liberally  shared  his  acquisitions 
with  others,  we  shall  perhaps  best  describe  his  special  place  and 
work  in  the  world  of  letters.  To  judge  by  his  correspondence 
it  would  seem  that  all  the  learned  men  in  the  kingdom  applied 
to  him  for  the  loan  of  some  rare  manuscript  or  other,  and  that 

1  Otho,  C.  i.    The  notes  furnished  by  Smith  also  prove  the  identity  of  the 
Cotton  MS.    Otho,  C.  ix.  with  Bodley's  gift, 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  281 

hardly  a  scientific,  political,  historical,  or  heraldic  work  was 
produced  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but 
owed  something  to  his  labours  as  an  antiquary. 

Selden  asks  for  a  sight  of  his  Peterborough  books,  his 
Book  of  Monies  his  Historia  Jorw allensis.  Camden  writes  for  a 
treatise  on  Heraldry,  and  for  a  ledger  of  the  Abbey  of  Meaux. 
George  Carew,  afterwards  Earl  of  Totness,  needs  his  Chronicle 
of  Peter  the  Cruel.  Crashaw,  the  poet,  sends  for  volumes 
treating  of  the  Council  of  Florence,  and  of  the  excommunication 
of  the  emperor  at  the  Council  of  Lyons.  Sir  John  Dodderidge, 
judge  and  antiquary,  asks  leave  to  keep  Cotton's  maps  (perhaps 
for  his  work  "  Of  the  Dimensions  of  the  Land  of  England  "). 
Speed  requires  a  note  of  all  the  monasteries  in  the  realm,  as  well 
as  the  Book  of  Henry  IV.,  and  craves  help  in  his  Life  of  Henry 
V.,  signing  himself  "  Your  loving  friend,  troublesome  and 
troubled." 

All  these  demands  on  Cotton's  library  and  Cotton's  liberality, 
together  with  many  more,  may  be  seen  in  the  collection  of 
letters  contained  in  the  volume,  the  press-mark  of  which  is 
Julius  C  3. 

The  fame  of  the  Cottonian  library  was  great  among  the 
learned  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  ;  in  1612  it 
was  spoken  of  with  enthusiasm.  The  following  letter  from 
Edmund  Bolton,  poet  and  antiquary,  is,  despite  its  somewhat 
florid  and  inflated  style,  a  proof  of  the  high  estimation  in  which 
the  collection  was  held. 

"  Sir, — The  world  sees  that  worthy  monument  of  witt  and 
learning1  come  forth,  but  with  honourable  acknowledgements  of 
speciall  helps  from  you.  But  we  that  are  somewhat  privie  to 
the  truth  of  things,  do  also  knowe  that  without  your  assistance, 
it  is  in  vain  to  pretende  to  weightie  works  in  the  antiquities  of 

1  Probably  a  reference  to  Bacon's  History  of  Great  Britain  under  the 
Conquests  of  the  Romans,  Saxons,  Danes,  and  Normans,  published  in 


282  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

this  kingdom.  For  your  studie,  if  we  respect  the  glories  of 
saints  there  carefully  preserved  in  authentic  registers,  it  is  a 
Pantheon  and  all  Hallowes.  If  the  memorials  of  the  honourable 
deceased,  it  is  a  mausolae.  If  the  tables  and  written  instruments 
of  Empire,  it  is  a  Capitol.  If  the  whole  furniture  of  Cyclopaedia, 
it  is  a  mart.  If  matters  marine,  it  is  an  arsenal — if  martial,  a 
camp  and  magazine.  Briefly  it  is  the  Arck,  where  all  noble 
things  which  the  deluges  of  impious  vastitic  and  sacriligious 
furie  have  not  devoured,  are  kept  to  bee  the  seminaries  of  better 
plantations." 

He  goes  on  to  compare  Cotton's  library  with  that  of  Paulus 
Jovius,  the  pride  and  glory  of  Italy,  which,  he  declares,  "  will 
seem  perhaps  little  better  than  a  beauteous  charnel-house,  filled 
with  skeletons,  and  the  rotten  timbers  of  clay-built  tenements 
dissolved  into  dust,  by  the  side  of  this  exquisitely  instructed 
studie." 

Exaggerated  as  this  praise  may  seem,  the  fact  remains  that 
the  Cottonian  collection  was  unique,  and  that  scholars  owed 
more  to  it  than  to  any  other  sources  of  information.  There  is 
no  account  of  any  visit  of  Cotton's  to  the  Continent,  although  in 
one  of  his  early  pamphlets  mention  is  made  of  his  having 
visited  Italy  ;  but  people  were  busy  in  different  parts  of  Europe 
seeking  for  what  was  valuable  in  the  shape  of  parchments  and 
old  coins,  to  add  to  his  treasures. 

England  was,  however,  at  that  time  the  best  hunting-ground 
for  manuscripts,  so  short  a  time  having  elapsed  since  our  great 
monastic  libraries  had  been  scattered  to  the  winds.  Chronicles, 
chartularies,  State  Papers,  treaties,  family  pedigrees,  documents 
of  every  kind  were  floating  about  the  country,  often  in  the 
possession  of  strange  owners,  almost  always  to  be  had  for  gold. 
To  acquire  these  was  Cotton's  chief  delight  from  the  age  of 
eighteen  ;  and  as  a  natural  consequence,  this  taste  surrounded 
him  with  learned  friends.  At  his  house  at  Westminster  the 
literati  of  the  day  were  wont  to  meet.  Josceline,  Camden,  Noel, 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  283 

Speed,  Sir  John  Davis,  and  others  formed,  together  with  himself, 
the  then  Society  of  Antiquaries,  which  Matthew  Parker  had 
founded. 

But  James  I.,  although  so  great  an  amateur  of  antiquities, 
did  not  regard  the  society  with  a  favourable  eye.  He  was 
eminently  cautious,  and  fancied  that  these  meetings  might  lead 
to  a  political  association,  and  he  accordingly  suppressed 
them. 

In  recognition,  however,  of  Cotton's  merit  the  king  knighted 
him  at  his  coronation  honours ;  he  called  him  "  cousin,"  and 
acknowledged  his  claim  to  be  descended  from  the  Scottish 
family  of  Bruce.  From  that  time  Cotton  quartered  the  royal 
arms  of  Scotland  with  his  own,  and  adopted  the  name  of  Bruce, 
"  not,"  says  Collins  in  his  Baronetage^  "  in  arrogance  and 
ostentation,  but  in  distinction  to  those  of  the  name  of  Cotton  of 
other  families  .  .  .  and  in  a  grateful  sense  of  the  divine  favour 
for  that  extraction,  and  to  excite  an  emulation  in  his  issue  to 
follow  the  virtues  of  such  glorious  ancestors."  His  descent  is 
clearly  traced  in  the  history  of  Connington  Castle  in  Huntingdon- 
shire, which  had  been  the  home  of  his  family  for  centuries.  The 
house  had  been  rebuilt  at  various  times.  When  it  came  into 
Sir  Robert  Cotton's  hands  he  completely  restored  it,  embellish- 
ing the  north  front  with  richly  moulded  arches  which  he  had 
purchased  and  brought  from  Fotheringhay  Castle,  together  with 
the  room  in  which  Queen  Mary  had  been  executed.1 

Cotton's  friendship  with  Camden  began  at  Westminster 
School,  where  Cotton  was  educated — Camden  being  at  that  time 
second  master.  In  the  last  year  of  the  century,  the  two  friends 
made  an  antiquarian  journey  into  the  North,  where  they  explored 
the  old  Roman  wall,  built  to  keep  out  the  marauding  Picts,  and 
returned  to  Connington  laden  with  trophies.  These  were 
afterwards  presented  to  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  where  they 
are  still  preserved.  Camden's  Britannia  contains  more  than 

1  Neale.  Views  of  the  Seats  of  Noblemen  and  Gentlemen,  vol.  ii, 
For  Cotton's  pedigree,  see  Julius  F  8,  f.  jSb. 


284  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

one  allusion  to  this  journey.  His  History  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
was  long  supposed  to  be  their  joint  work ;  and  it  is 
probable  that,  although  he  only  acknowledged  the  loan  of 
autograph  letters,  the  part  relating  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots 
was  at  least  inspired  by  Cotton.  It  is  certain  that  Camden 
obtained  nearly  all  his  materials  from  his  friend's  library.  In 
one  of  his  letters  he  speaks  of  Cotton  as  "  the  dearest  of  all  my 
friends";  and  in  this  profession  he  was  constant  till  his  death, 
directing  in  his  will  that  Sir  Robert  should  have  the  first 
view  of  his  books  and  manuscripts ;  "  that  he  may  take  such  as  I 
borrowed  of  him  ; "  and  then  he  goes  on  to  bequeath  to  him  his 
entire  collection,  except  his  heraldic  and  ancient  seals,  which  he 
left  to  the  Herald's  College. 

About  the  year  1614  it  began  to  be  whispered  that  Sir  Robert 
Cotton  had  unlawfully  come  by  some  of  the  State  Papers  in  his 
library,  and  the  low  murmurs  soon  grew  into  a  loud  argument 
to  the  effect  that  the  Public  Record  Office  was  injured 
"  by  his  having  such  things  as  he  hath  cunningly  scraped 
together."1  The  general  feeling  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  is 
expressed  in  the  following  extract  from  a  contemporary  letter 
which  was  prompted  by  the  fact  that  Arthur  Agard,  keeper 
of  the  Public  Records,  had  left  his  private  collection  to 
Cotton : — 

"  The  late  Mr  Agard  has  left  some  manuscripts,  the  labour 
of  most  of  his  life,  including  a  book  on  the  exemption  of  the 
Kings  of  England  from  the  power  of  the  Pope,  abstracts  of 
treaties,  and  other  State  matters,  which  Sir  Robert  Cotton 
claims,  on  pretext  that  they  were  left  to  him  by  will ;  but  tie 
was  at  the  making  of  the  will.  It  is  important  that  such  things 
be  kept  in  possession  of  the  King's  officers,  as  otherwise  they 
may  be  suppressed  when  most  wanted." 2 

1  J.   Wilson   to   Ambrose  ;    Randolph   State    Papers,    Dom.    James   I., 
1615  ;  R.O. 

2  Pom.  James  I.,  vol.  Ixxxiii.,  69* ;  R.O, 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  285 

After  this,  charge  after  charge  was  brought  against  Cotton, 
till  the  life,  that  had  so  usefully  been  spent  in  the  service  of 
learning,  closed  in  sadness  and  gloom.  James,  however,  whether 
he  gave  credence  to  the  accusations  of  enemies  or  not, 
never  quite  abandoned  him.  He  made  him  a  member  of  the 
"  new  order  of  hereditary  knights  called  baronets,"  which 
Cotton  had  himself  advised  the  king  to  create,  as  a  means  of 
replenishing  the  State  coffers,  without  burdening  his  subjects 
with  taxes.  (The  fee  was  fixed  at  ;£iooo.) 

Disraeli,  in  his  Curiosities  of  Literature,  quoting  from  a 
Lansdowne  MS.,  says  that  it  appeared,  "by  the  manuscript 
book  of  Sir  Nicholas  Hyde,  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench, 
from  the  second  to  the  third  year  of  Charles  I.,  that  Sir  Robert 
Cotton  had,  in  his  library,  records,  evidences,  ledger-books, 
original  letters,  and  other  State  papers  belonging  to  the  King ; 
for  the  Attorney-General  of  that  time,  to  prove  this,  showed  a 
copy  of  the  pardon  which  Sir  Robert  had  obtained  from  King 
James  for  embezzling  records,  etc." 

James  had  the  greatest  regard  for  Cotton's  historical 
acumen,  and  in  the  last  year  of  his  reign  he  ordered  that  no 
more  copies  of  the  life  of  his  mother,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 
should  be  published  till  Sir  Robert  Cotton  had  enlarged  it, 
and  made  it  more  authentic  by  the  aid  of  two  ample  histories 
which  had  lately  come  out.1  The  similarity  of  their  tastes 
always  ensured  a  certain  sympathy  between  the  antiquary 
who  was  also  in  some  sense  a  Scotchman,  being  descended 
from  the  Bruces,  and  the  first  Stuart  King  of  England.  But 
James's  successor  never  took  him  into  favour,  and  henceforth 
there  was  little  in  his  worldly  prosperity  to  divert  him  from 
his  beloved  library — a  perennial  source  of  joy  to  him — till  his 
enemies  turned  it  into  a  weapon  for  his  destruction.  He 
never  ceased  to  add  to  it  while  he  lived,  and  casual  con- 
tributions continued  to  flow  in  from  various  sources. 

1  Secretary  Conway  to  the  Wardens,  etc.,  of  the  Stationer's  Company, 
25th  June  1624,  Dom.  James  I. ;  R.O. 


286  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Thus,  in  1627,  Sir  James  Ware  sent  a  manuscript  register 
of  St  Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin  ;  and  the  year  after  Archbishop 
Ussher  presented  a  Samaritan  Pentateuch  (Claudius,  B  8). 
Already  in  1625  he  had  mentioned  this  book  in  a  letter  to 
Cotton  : — 

"Touching  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  the  copye  which  I 
have  is  (as  I  guess)  about  three  hundred  years  old,  but  the 
work  itself  commeth  very  short  of  the  tyme  of  Esdras  and 
Malachy.  I  have  compared  the  testymonyes  cited  out  of  it 
by  the  ancient  Fathers,  Eusebius,  Jerome,  Cyrill,  and  others, 
and  find  them  precisely  to  agree  with  my  booke,  which  makes 
me  highly  to  esteeme  of  it." 

In  1628  he  writes  apologetically  for  his  long  silence  and 
his  delay  in  returning  books  lent  to  him  by  Cotton  : — 

"A  farre  longer  time  than  good  manners  would  well 
permitt,  for  which  fault  yett  I  hope  to  make  some  kinde  of 
expiation  by  sending  you  shortlye,  together  with  your  own 
my  ancient  copye  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  which  I  have 
long  since  destinated  unto  that  librarye  of  yours,  to  which  I 
have  been  beholden  for  so  many  good  things  no  where  else 
to  be  found.  I  shall  [God  willing]  ere  long  finish  my  collation 
of  it  with  the  Hebrew  text,  and  then  hang  it  up  ut  votivam 
Tabulam  at  that  Sacrarium  of  yours." 

A  correspondent,  signing  his  letter  Jo  Scudamore,  gave  him 
a  whole  edition  of  Chaucer  "  in  a  fair  ancient  written  hand." 
This  manuscript  has  unfortunately  disappeared  from  the 
collection. 

Nicholas  Saunder  sent  a  history  by  Helinandus,  a  Cistercian 
monk,  written  in  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror,1  and  many 
other  donations  are  recorded. 

Of  the  constant  activity  going  on  in  the  formation  of  this 
wonderful  library,  and  of  the  great  generosity  with  which  the 

1  Claudius,  B  9.  The  donor  of  this  MS.  was  not  the  Nicholas 
Saunders  so  well-known  in  Elizabeth's  reign. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  287 

books  were  lent  the  following  letters  are  eloquent.     Archbishop 
Ussher  writes  thus  : — 

"WORTHY  SIR, — I  have  received  from  you  the  history  of 
the  Bishops  of  Durham,  together  with  your  ancient  copies  of 
the  Psalmes,  whereof  that  which  hath  the  Saxon  interlineary 
translation    inserted    is    the    old    Romanum    Psalterium,    the 
other   three   are  the  same  with  that  which  is   called  Gallicum 
Psalterium.     But   I  have  not  yet  received  that  which  I  stand 
most  in  need  of,  to  wit  the  Psalter  in  8vo  which  is  distinguished 
with  obeliskes  and  asteriskes.     I    pray  you,  therefore,  send  it 
unto  me  by  my  servant,  this  bearer,  as  also  the  life  of  Wilfrid, 
written  in  prose  by  a  nameless  author   that  lived  about   the 
time   of  Bede ;   the   other   written   in   verse  by  Fredegodus  I 
received   from    Mr   Burnett ;  together,    with   William    Malms- 
buriensis    de    vitis     Pontificum     Angliae     et     S.     Aldhelmus. 
Before  you   leave  London   I   pray   you  do  your   best   to   get 
master   Crashaw's   MS.    Psalter   conveyed   unto   me.     I  doubt 
not  but  before  this  time  you  have  dealt  with  Sir  Peter  Vanlore 
for   obtaining   Erpenius   his    Hebrew,    Syriach,    Arabick,   and 
Persian  books,  and  the  matrices  of  the  letters  of  the  Oriental 
languages.     If  he   interpose  himself  seriously  herein,  it  is  not 
to  be  doubted,  but  he  will  prevayle  before  any  other.     But  what 
he   doth   he   must  do  very  speedilye,  because  the  Jesuites  of 
Antwerp    are   already   dealing    for  the    Oriental    presse,   and 
others  for  the  Arabick,  Syriac,  Hebrew,  and  Persian  bookes. 
It  were  good  you  took  some  order  before  you  went,  how  Sir 
Peter  may  signify  unto  you,  when  you  are   in   the   countrye, 
what  is  done  in  this  businesse.     If  he  send  to  Mr  Burnett  at 
any  time  [who  dwellith  at  the  signe  of  the  three  swannes  in 
Lombard  Street]  he  will  finde  some  means  or  other  to  com- 
municate what  he  pleaseth  unto  me.     I  thank  you  very  hartilye 
for  the  care  which  you  have  taken  in  causing  my  Samaritan 
Bible  to  be  so  faire  bound.     I  have  given  order  to  Mr  Burnett 
to  content  the  workman   for  his  paynes,  and  so  with  remem- 


288  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

brance  of  my  best  affections  unto  yourself  and  the  kinde 
ladye  your  wife,1  I  committ  both  of  you  to  God's  blessed 
protection,  and  rest  your  own  most  assured, 

"  JA  ARMACHANUS." 

Sir  Edward  Bering  writes  in  1630: — 

"  SIR, — I  received  your  very  welcome  letter,  whereby  I  find 
you  abundant  in  courtesies  of  all  natures.  I  am  a  great  debtor 
to  you,  and  those  obligations  likely  still  to  be  multiplied.  As 
I  confess  so  much  to  you,  so  I  hope  to  witnesse  it  to  posterity. 
I  have  sent  up  two  of  your  bookes  which  have  much  pleasured 
me.  I  have  here  the  charter  of  King  John,  dated  at  Running 
Meade.2  By  the  first  safe  and  sure  messenger  it  is  yours,  so 
are  the  Saxon  charters,  as  fast  as  I  can  copy  them,  but  in  the 
meantime  I  will  enclose  King  John  in  a  boxe  and  send  him. 
I  shall  much  long  to  see  you  at  this  place,  where  you  shall 
command  the  heart  of  your  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

"E.  BERING." 
DOVER  CASTLE,  May  10,  1630. 

It  would  be  extremely  interesting  were  Cotton's  own  letters 
extant,  to  have  some  account  from  his  pen  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  came  by  many  manuscripts,  the  history  of  which  is 
a  blank  to  us  from  the  time  of  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries 
till  they  found  a  safe  haven  in  his  library.  But  his  letters  are 
very  rare  ;  two  only  have  been  preserved  in  the  Record  Office. 
They  are  addressed  to  his  brother,  Thomas,  in  the  years  1623 
and  1624,  and  they  begin  "Loving  Bavid,"  and  end  "Thy 
Jonathon."  One  is  much  stained,  and  difficult  to  read  ;  both 
treat  of  political  matters. 

1  Sir  Robert  Cotton  had  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  co-heiress  of 
William  Brocas  of  Thedingworth,  Leicestershire,  by  whom  he  had  several 
sons,  the  eldest  Thomas,  alone  surviving  him. 

2  There  are  two  original  drafts  of  Magna  Charta    in    the  Cottonian 
Library. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  289 

In  1629  the  origin  of  a  seditious  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  How 
to  bridle  the  impertinency  of  Parliaments,"  which  was  handed 
about  in  London,  causing  some  commotion,  was  traced  to  the 
Cottonian  library.  In  spite  of  all  that  Cotton  could  put  forward 
to  exculpate  himself,  an  order  was  issued  by  the  Privy  Council 
for  the  sequestration  of  his  books,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  of  a  nature  to  be  exposed  for  public  inspection.  And 
this  was  not  all.  Once  before  he  had  been  deprived  of  access 
to  them  for  a  time,  and  now  again  he  was  himself  debarred 
from  entering  his  own  library,  a  privation  which  affected  him 
so  seriously,  that  from  the  moment  of  sequestration  his  health 
visibly  declined,  and  he  declared  to  his  friends  that  they 
had  broken  his  heart,  who  had  locked  up  his  books  from 
him. 

Disraeli,  in  his  Amenities  of  Literature,  says  that, 
"  Tormented  by  the  fate  of  a  collection  which  had  consumed 
forty  years,  at  every  personal  sacrifice  to  form  it  for  '  the  use 
and  services  of  posterity,'  he  sank  at  the  sudden  stroke.  In 
the  course  of  a  few  weeks  he  was  so  worn  by  injured  feelings 
that,  from  a  ruddy-complexioned  man,  his  face  was  wholly 
changed  into  a  grim  blackish  paleness,  near  to  the  resemblance 
and  hue  of  a  dead  visage." 

Cotton  made  two  separate  petitions  to  have  his  rights  over 
his  own  property  restored.  In  the  first  he  signified  to  the  Privy 
Council  that  their  detaining  his  books  without  rendering  any 
reason  for  the  same  had  been  the  cause  of  the  mortal  malady 
from  which  he  suffered.  In  the  second,  in  which  his  son  joined, 
he  merely  complained  that  the  documents  were  perishing  for 
lack  of  airing,  and  that  no  one  was  allowed  to  consult  them. 
The  Lord  Privy  Seal  was  at  last  sent  to  him  with  a  tardy  message 
from  the  king,  but  too  late  to  avail  him  anything.  Within 
half  an  hour  of  his  death  the  Earl  of  Dorset  came  to  condole 
with  his  son,  now  Sir  Thomas  Cotton,  bearing  the  somewhat 
ambiguous  assurance  that,  "  as  his  Majesty  loved  his  father,  so 
he  would  continue  his  love  to  him."  Sir  Robert  Cotton  died 

T 


290  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

on  the  6th  May  1631,  and  was  buried  at  Connington.  Long 
afterwards  it  was  discovered  that  the  author  of  the  fatal  pamphlet, 
that  had  done  so  much  to  kill  him,  was  Sir  Robert  Dudley,  who 
had  written  it  when  in  exile  at  Florence. 

Before  tracing  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Cottonian 
library  we  will  pause  and  consider  some  of  the  most  import- 
ant manuscripts  which  it  contained  at  the  death  of  its  famous 
originator. 

It  has  been  said  that  he  turned  his  attention  largely  towards 
collecting  materials  for  every  period  of  English  history.  Those 
materials  are  particularly  rich  as  regards  the  Anglo-Saxon 
period. 

Beginning  chronologically  we  find  here  (in  Vitellius,  A  15) 
the  story  of  Beowulf,  the  oldest  monument  of  Anglo-Saxon 
literature,  reaching  back  into  the  ages  of  heathendom.  It  is 
a  pagan  war-song  which,  in  being  handed  down  from  minstrel 
to  minstrel,  has  lost  nothing  of  its  wild,  exultant  beauty,  while 
it  has  received  many  Christian  inflexions  from  the  bards  of  a 
better  religion  than  that  in  which  it  was  originally  conceived, 
through  whose  minds  it  passed  before  being  committed  to 
parchment  When  the  Saxons  had  embraced  Christianity 
they  carefully  weeded  out  from  their  national  poetry  all 
allusion  to  personages  of  pagan  mythology,  so  that,  in  an 
antiquarian  sense,  their  literature  suffered.  But  the  forcible 
and  picturesque  imagery  of  half-barbaric  tribes  still  remained. 
The  coarseness  of  the  beer-hall  is,  however,  subdued  by  the 
gold  and  silken  embroideries  with  which  it  is  adorned.  In 
a  vivid  description  of  a  battle,  in  the  midst  of  lurid  flames, 
of  blood  and  carnage,  the  enemy  is  "  put  to  sleep  with 
the  sword."  When  a  hero  dies  in  peace,  "he  goes  on  his 
way." 

The  poem  of  Beowulf  has  been  variously  edited.  It  was 
first  noticed  by  Wanley,  in  his  catalogue  of  Saxon  MSS.  in 
1705.  It  was  printed  with  a  Latin  translation  by  Thorkelin, 
at  Copenhagen,  in  1815.  Conybeare,  in  his  Illustrations  of 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  291 

Anglo-Saxon  Poetry,  points  out  several  errors  into  which  the 
Dane,  Thorkelin,  and  the  Englishman,  Turner  fell ;  and  Thorpe, 
in  his  Anglo-Saxon  Poems  of  Beowulf,  differs  from  all  preceding 
editors,  who  considered  the  heroes  as  mythical  beings  of  a 
divine  order,  he  suggesting  that  they  were  kings  and  chieftains 
of  the  North,  within  the  pale  of  authentic  history.1  This 
opinion  had  been  shared  by  Kemble,  but  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Grimm — perhaps  the  greatest  authority  on  these 
matters — he  ended  by  regarding  the  poem  as  mythic.  Later 
critics  have,  however,  considered  that  it  deals  with  historical 
persons. 

Only  secondary  to  the  romance  of  Beowulf  must  once  have 
been  the  fragment  of  a  poem  on  the  death  of  Beorhtnoth.2  It 
was  printed  by  Hearne  in  the  appendix  to  his  edition  of 
Johannis  Glastoniensis  Chronicon,  but  without  a  translation. 

"  It  constitutes,"  says  Conybeare,  "  a  battle-piece  of  spirited 
execution,  mixed  with  short  speeches  from  the  principal 
warriors,  conceived  with  much  force,  variety,  and  character ; 
the  death  of  the  hero  is  also  very  graphically  described.  The 
whole  approximates  much  more  nearly  than  could  have  been 
expected  to  the  war-scenes  of  Homer." 

Of  the  poem  of  Judith,  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  songs,  a  fragment  is  preserved  in  the  same  volume  which 
contains  the  story  of  Beowulf. 

The  type  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  poets  in  Christian  times  is 
Caedmon,  whom  Professor  George  Stephens  called  "  the  Milton 
of  North  England  in  the  seventh  century,"  and  who,  according 
to  the  legend  told  by  Bede,  being  singularly  unblessed  with 
the  power  of  song,  received  the  gift  miraculously  in  sleep.  He 
is  represented  in  the  Cottonian  library  only  by  a  few  prayers 
in  Anglo-Saxon  (Julius,  A  2)  which  Junius  printed  from  this 
MS.  at  the  end  of  his  edition  of  Caedmon's  paraphrase.  The 

1  Preface,  p.  xvii. 

2  Formerly  Otho  A  12,  in  the  Cottonian  Library  ;  the  original  perished 
in  the  fire  of  1731. 


292  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

interesting  collection,  which  goes  by  Csedmon's  name  in  the 
Bodleian  library,  is  a  series  of  pieces  on  Scriptural  subjects, 
with  beautifully  painted  illustrations. 

A  manuscript  of  the  tenth  century  (Cleopatra,  B  13)  contains 
a  short  hymn  on  the  conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons ;  and  in 
the  same  volume  is  a  life  of  St  Dunstaa 

Two  important  volumes  (Tiberius,  B  5,  and  Titus,  D  27), 
one  of  which  appears  to  have  been  written  for  the  use  of  nuns, 
formed  part  of  the  material  for  a  history  of  mathematics  in 
England,  during  the  Middle  Ages.1 

Alcuin  and  Aldhelm  were  the  chief  Anglo-Latin  poets. 
Some  of  Alcuin's  letters  are  to  be  found  in  this  collection.  St 
Aldhelm,  Abbot,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Malmesbury,  was  regarded 
by  King  Alfred  as  the  prince  of  Anglo-Latin  poets.  His  chief 
work,  The  Praises  of  Virginity,  is  at  Cambridge,  but  his  metrical 
treatise  on  the  monastic  life  and  one  of  his  letters  are  here 
preserved. 

Alfred  is  well  represented  in  his  Laws,  and  in  his  Saxon 
versions  of  Augustine's  soliloquies. 

Of  the  works  of  the  venerable  Bede  we  have  the  Ecclesiastical 
History,  the  Life  and  Miracles  of  St  Cuthbert,  and  nine  other 
manuscripts. 

It  was  probably  between  1615  and  1621  that  Sir  Robert 
Cotton  became  possessed  of  the  celebrated  manuscript  known 
as  the  Utrecht  Psalter.  Its  early  history  is  obscure,  and 
experts  have  differed  widely  as  to  its  probable  date  and 
origin.  Sir  Thomas  Hardy,  who  summarised  its  contents,  and 
drew  up  a  report  upon  the  intrinsic  arguments  in  favour  of 
its  remote  antiquity,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  could 
not  have  been  written  in  England,  because  it  contains  certain 
liturgical  pieces  which  were  not  in  use  in  this  country,  at  the 
time  assigned  for  its  age  by  other  internal  evidence.  He 
suggested  that  it  was  brought  into  England  by  the  Christian 

1  Rara  Mathematica  from  inedited  MSS.,  by  J.  O.  Halliwell. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  293 

princess,  Bertha,  daughter  of  Charibert  the  Prankish  king,  who 
became  the  Queen  of  Ethelbert.  He  based  this  supposition 
on  the  costliness  of  the  manuscript  which  would  point  to  its 
having  belonged  to  a  royal  personage.  He  next  considered 
the  probability  that  this  Psalter  was  presented  by  Queen 
Bertha  to  the  monastery  of  Reculver,  in  Kent,  where  the  king 
had  built  a  new  palace,  and  where  Bertha  attended  the  services 
of  her  religion,  Hardy  drew  this  inference  from  the  coinci- 
dence that  at  the  time  when  the  volume  came  into  Cotton's 
hands  there  was  bound  up  with  it  a  charter,  recording  the 
gift  of  certain  lands  by  Lothair,  King  of  Kent,  to  Bercwald, 
Abbot  of  Reculver,  and  to  his  monastery.  The  charter  is 
dated  Reculver,  May  7,  679,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
custom  in  smaller  monasteries  to  place  royal  and  other  charters 
inside  valuable  books  for  preservation,  in  default  of  any 
more  suitable  depositary.  This  charter,  which  Cotton  took 
to  be  an  original  document,  he  separated  from  the 
Utrecht  Psalter,  preserving  it  in  another  part  of  his  library. 
It  is  still  to  be  found  where  he  placed  it  (in  Augustus, 
B  2). 

Mr  Birch,  however,  disposed  summarily  of  Sir  Thomas 
Hardy's  ingenious  theory,  and  pronounced  Cotton's  opinion 
that  the  charter  was  an  original  document,  as  not  worth  much. 
After  giving  all  the  evidence  for  and  against  the  probability 
of  Queen  Bertha,  having  presented  the  Psalter  to  Reculver 
Abbey,  he  showed  reasons  for  the  charter  being  a  copy  of 
the  original,  and  for  its  having  been  made  at  Christ  Church, 
Canterbury,  a  religious  house  very  closely  allied  to  Reculver, 
which  was  secularised  centuries  before  the  dissolution  of  the 
monasteries  by  Henry  VIII. 

But  the  most  recent  authority  on  illuminated  manuscripts, 
Sir  Edward  Maunde  Thompson,  considers  that  the  actual  date 
of  the  Utrecht  Psalter  may  be  placed  about  the  year  800,  and 
he  maintains  with  Sir  Thomas  Hardy,  judging  by  internal 
palasographical  evidence,  that  without  doubt,  the  manuscript 


294  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

is  of  Prankish  workmanship,  and  he  assigns  its  origin  to  the 
north,  or  north-east  of  France.1  This  carries  us  back  to  Queen 
Bertha  and  Cotton's  suggestion  that  she  brought  the  book  over 
with  her. 

Shortly  after  the  suppression  of  Christ  Church,  which,  in 
all  probability,  inherited  the  treasures  of  Reculver,  the  Utrecht 
Psalter,  together  with  its  incorporated  charter,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Talbot  family ;  and  in  Mr  Bond's  report  on 
the  manuscript  he  said  that  the  name  Mary  Talbot  could, 
with  some  difficulty,  be  deciphered  on  the  lower  margin  of 
folio  6ob,  in  a  sixteenth  century  hand.  Various  suggestions 
have  been  made  in  regard  to  this  name,  but  in  Mr  Birch's 
opinion — and  here  there  is  good  reason  for  following  him — 
it  belonged  to  the  wife  or  daughter  of  "  Master  Talbot  of 
Norwich,  a  most  ingenious  and  industrious  antiquary."  He 
made  a  collection  of  rare  manuscripts,  most  of  which  are  now 
in  Corpus  Christi  College  at  Cambridge,  and  it  was  from 
this  collection  that  the  Utrecht  Psalter  passed  into  Sir  Robert 
Cotton's  possession,  but  whether  by  gift  or  purchase  is  not 
recorded. 

The  manuscript  is  entered  in  the  catalogue  of  the  library 
written  by  Cotton  himself  in  1621,  under  the  press-mark 
Claudius  C  7,  but  it  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  subsequent 
catalogue.  An  entry  occurs  among  the  Notes  of  such  books 
as  have  been  lent  out  by  Sir  Robert  Cotton  to  divers  persons, 
and  are  abroad  in  their  hands  att  this  daye,  the  \yh  of  January 
1630,  which  entry  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Psalter  was  lent 
"to  my  lord  the  Earle  of  Arundel."  Birch  gave  it  up  as  lost 
to  the  Cotton  library  from  the  time  that  it  passed  into 
Lord  Arundel's  hands ;  but  he  must  have  been  unaware  of 
the  existence  of  Smith's  own  copy  of  his  printed  catalogue, 
which  contains  his  manuscript  notes  of  books  borrowed  from 

1  See  a  Paper  on  "  English  Illuminated  Manuscripts,  A.D.  700-1066,  by 
Mr,  now  Sir  Edward  Maunde  Thompson,  Bibliographica,  part  ii.,  London  : 
Kegan  &  Co. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  295 

the  Cotton  collection,  and  in  which  these  words  are  written  : 
"Borrowed  by  Mr  Ashmole,  on  the  i/th  February  1673, 
Claudius,  C.  7."  Smith's  folio  catalogue,  published  in  1696, 
has  the  word  Deest,  marking  its  absence  from  the  library. 
Nothing  further  can  be  discovered  till  1718,  when  the  book 
appears  to  have  become  the  property  of  Monsieur  de  Ridder, 
a  Dutchman,  who  presented  it  to  the  University  of  Utrecht 
where  it  still  remains.1  Sir  Robert  Cotton's  signature  is  on 
the  first  page. 

The  great  charm  of  this  manuscript,  a  facsimile  of  which 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  Cottonian  library,  lies  in  its  pen-and-ink 
illustrations,  as  forcible  and  appealing  as  are  the  scenes  of 
the  Last  Judgment  on  the  walls  of  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa. 
Among  the  Harleian  MSS.,  moreover  (No.  603),  there  is 
an  illuminated  Psalter  so  like  it,  that  it  seems  impossible 
that  the  artist  should  not  have  had  the  Utrecht  Psalter  before 
him  as  he  drew ;  unless,  as  Sir  Edward  Thompson  supposes, 
the  older  manuscript  is  itself  a  copy  of  a  still  more  ancient 
one,  which  leads  him  to  infer  that  other  versions  of  this 
Psalter  were  in  existence  in  England  at  an  early  date.  This 
would  account  also  for  the  Eadwine  Psalter  at  Cambridge,  a 
twelfth-century  imitation  of  the  Harleian  manuscript.  Neither 
of  these  Psalters  can  be  described  as  an  absolute  copy  of  the 
Utrecht  Psalter. 

We  are  here  led  to  deplore  the  loss  of  another  valuable  manu- 
script of  a  totally  different  kind,  which,  although  not  in  the 
collection  at  the  time  of  Sir  Robert's  death,  once  belonged 
to  this  library,  and  was  lost  in  the  same  way.  We  refer  to 
to  the  "  Enconium  Emmae "  an  eleventh  century  MS.  which 
Cotton  sent  to  Duchesne,  and  which  the  latter  used  in  writing 
his  Histories  Normanorum,  but  never  returned.  It  has  entirely 
disappeared. 

We  now  come  to  what  is  perhaps  the  noblest  monument 

1  The  History,  Art,  and  Paleography  of  the  Utrecht  Psalter,  by  W.  de 
Gray  Birch,  F.R.S.L.,  Keeper  of  the  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum. 


296  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

of  Anglo-Saxon  times  in  the  Cottonian  library — namely,  the 
famous  Lindisfarne  Gospels  also  known  as  the  Durham  Book, 
a  marvel  of  palaeographic  art.  It  is  indisputably  the  finest 
production  of  the  school  of  Lindisfarne.  The  Latin  text, 
written  in  double  columns,  was  transcribed  by  Eadfrith,  Bishop 
of  Lindisfarne,  while  still  a  simple  monk,  in  honour,  some  say 
for  the  use,  of  St  Cuthbert.  It  was  finished  after  the  saint's 
death,  at  the  end  of  the  seventh,  or  beginning  of  the  eighth 
century.  This  we  learn  from  intrinsic  evidence,  in  the  form 
of  a  brief  note  in  Anglo-Saxon  at  the  end  of  the  Gospel  of  St 
Matthew,  and  a  longer  one  at  the  end  of  the  volume.  These 
notes  have  thus  been  translated  by  Mr  Waring : — * 

"  Thou,  O  living  God,  bear  in  mind  Eadfrith  and  ALthel- 
wald,  and  Billfrith  and  Aldred,  the  sinner.  These  four 
with  God's  help  were  employed  upon  (or  busied  about)  this 
book." 

And- 

"  Eadfrith,  Bishop  over  the  Church  of  Lindisfarne,  first  wrote 
this  book  in  (honour  of)  God  and  St  Cuthbert,  and  all  the 
company  of  saints  in  the  Island  ;  and  yEthelwald,  Bishop  of 
Lindisfarne,  made  an  outer  cover,  and  adorned  it  as  he  was  well 
able ;  and  Billfrith,  the  anchorite,  he  wrought  the  metal-work 
of  the  ornaments  on  the  outside  thereof,  and  decked  it  with 
gold,  and  with  gems,  overlaid  also  with  silver  and  unalloyed 
metal ;  and  Aldred,  an  unworthy  and  most  miserable  priest,  by 
the  help  of  God  and  St  Cuthbert,  over-glossed  the  same  in 
English,  and  domiciled  himself  with  the  three  parts.  Matthew, 
this  part  for  God  and  St  Cuthbert ;  Mark,  this  part  for  the  bishop  ; 
and  Luke,  this  part  for  the  brotherhood  ;  with  eight  ora  of  silver 
(as  an  offering)  on  entrance  ;  and  St  John's  part  for  himself — i.e., 
for  his  soul ;  and  (depositing)  four  silver  ora  with  God  and 
St  Cuthbert,  that  he  may  find  acceptance  in  heaven  through 
the  mercy  of  God ;  good  fortune  and  peace  on  earth,  promotion 
1  Prolegomena,  Lindisfarne,  and  Rushworth  Gospels,  part  iv. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  29? 

and  dignity,  wisdom  and  prudence  through  the  merits  of 
St  Cuthbert 

"Eadfrith,  ^Ethelwald,  Billfrith,  and  Aldred  have  wrought 
and  adorned  this  Book  of  the  Gospels  for  (love  of)  God  and 
St  Cuthbert." 

Old  as  it  is,  neither  vellum  nor  illumination  shows  the  least 
sign  of  decay.  The  writing  is  exquisitely  beautiful,  and  points 
to  a  degree  of  refinement  and  cultivation  which  we  do  not 
usually  associate  with  a  rough  life,  such  as  was  led  by  the 
monks  of  sea-girt  Lindisfarne.  There  are  to  be  seen 
wonderful  initial  letters,  geometrical  and  tesselated  designs,  like 
the  most  delicate  and  intricate  mosaics,  and  above  all,  beauti- 
fully devout  representations  of  the  four  evangelists,  all  evidently 
drawn  by  the  same  loving  and  reverent  hand,  and  the  whole 
colouring  as  fresh  now  as  if  it  had  been  painted  yesterday. 

The  evangelists,  each  accompanied  by  the  symbolic  animal, 
usually  assigned  to  him,  occupy  nearly  the  whole  of  their 
respective  pages.  They  are  taken  from  Byzantine  models,  of 
which,  as  Westwood  points  out,1  nothing  remains  but  the 
attitudes,  the  fashion  of  the  dress  and  the  form  of  the  seats. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  these  illuminations  were  copied 
from  a  MS.  brought  into  England  by  the  missionaries  sent  from 
Rome  by  St  Gregory  in  the  seventh  century. 

Sir  Edward  Thompson,  following  Dom  Germain  Morin,2 
shows  that  the  Capitula,  or  tables  of  sections  which  accompany 
each  gospel  are  according  to  the  Neapolitan  use,  and  that 
Adrian,  the  companion  of  the  Greek,  Theodore,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  in  his  mission  to  Britain  in  668,  was  abbot  of  a 
monastery  in  the  Island  of  Nisita,  near  Naples. 

Bede  tells  us  that  these  missionaries  were  both  at  Lindisfarne, 
and  Sir  Edward  Thompson  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 

1  Facsimiles  of  the  Miniatures  and  Ornaments  of  Anglo- Saxon  and  Irish 
Manuscripts,  p.  35. 

2  See  his  articles  in  the  Revue  BenSdictine,  Nov.  and  Dec.  1891,  pp.  481 
and  529. 


298  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Neapolitan  MS.  from  which  the  Durham  Book  or  Lindisfarne 
Gospel  derived  its  text,  had  been  brought  a  few  years  previously 
from  Naples  by  the  Abbot  Adrian.1 

The  interlineary  Saxon  gloss  was  a  later  addition  by  the 
monk,  Aldred,  and  Billfrith,  as  we  have  seen,  made  the 
sumptuous  metal  cover.  This  binding,  needless  to  say,  has  long 
since  disappeared,  and  for  many  years  a  shabby  morocco 
covering  replaced  the  gorgeous  shrine  in  which  the  monks  of 
Holy  Island  had  deposited  their  treasure.  About  sixty  years 
ago,  Bishop  Maltby  of  Durham,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr  John 
Holmes,  provided  a  worthy  substitute,  the  design  for  which 
was  copied  from  one  of  the  ornamented  pages  in  the  book 
itself. 

This  magnificent  manuscript  has  been  published  by  the 
Surtees  Society,  together  with  the  very  inferior  Rushworth 
Gospels,  but  only  one  illumination  has  been  reproduced.2 

Of  absolutely  authentic  history  there  is  little  to  relate 
concerning  this  celebrated  manuscript,  but  Simeon  of  Durham, 
or  rather  Turgot,  whose  account  he  copied  (and  both  men  lived 
in  the  neighbourhood),  is  responsible  for  a  story  which  says  that 
it  remained  at  Holy  Island  till  the  ravages  of  the  Danes  forced 
the  monks  to  fly,  carrying  with  them  their  two  greatest  treasures, 
the  body  of  St  Cuthbert,  and  this  volume.  But  in  their 
flight  across  the  narrow  strip  of  sea  which  divides  the 
Island  from  the  coast  of  Northumbria,  their  boat  was  thrown 
so  much  on  one  side  that  the  book  fell  overboard.  They 
arrived  safely  on  the  opposite  shore,  but  could  not  make  up 
their  minds  to  continue  their  journey  till  they  had  done  what 
they  could  to  recover  the  precious  relic.  So  they  waited  at  the 
peril  of  their  lives  till  the  tide  went  out,  leaving,  as  it  does  to 

1  English  Illuminated  Manuscripts,  "  Bibliographica,"  part  ii. 

2  The  Lindisfarne  Gospels  or  Durham  Book   is  described  in  Planta's 
Catalogue  (Nero,  D  4),  as  "Liber  prseclarissimus,  elegantissimis  characteri- 
bus   et   curiosissimus   pro   istius    seculi    arte    picturis    et    delineationibus 
ornatus."       See    also    Wanley's     Catalogue,    Codd.    MS.     (Anglo- Sax.) 
p.  250. 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  29d 

this  day,  a  stretch  of  bare  sand  between  the  Island  and  the 
mainland.  To  the  inexpressible  joy  of  the  monks,  they  then 
found  the  book  lying  unharmed  on  the  sand. 

Archbishop  Eyre,  in  his  Life  of  St  Cuthbert,  following  the 
story  as  it  is  contained  in  the  Rites  of  Durham?-  places  this 
incident  in  the  sixth  or  seventh  year  of  their  wanderings. 

"  And  so,  the  bishop,  the  abbot,  and  the  rest,  being  weary  of 
travelling,  thought  to  have  stolen  away,  and  carried  St 
Cuthbert's  body  into  Ireland,  for  his  better  safety.  And  being 
upon  the  sea  in  a  ship,  by  a  marvellous  miracle  three  waves  of 
water  were  turned  into  blood.  The  ship  that  they  were  in  was 
driven  back  by  the  tempest  and  by  the  mighty  power  of  God 
as  it  would  seem,  upon  the  shore  or  land.  And  also  the  said 
ship  that  they  were  in,  by  the  great  storm  and  strong  raging 
walls  of  the  sea  as  is  aforesaid,  was  turned  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  Book  of  the  Holy  Evangelists  fell  out  of  the  ship  into  the 
bottom  of  the  sea." 

This  account  says  that  the  monks  found  the  volume  about 
three  miles  from  the  shore,  and  that  their  landing-place  was 
Whithorn  in  Galloway,  opposite  Belfast. 

When  Lindisfarne  became  a  priory  cell  to  Durham,  this 
famous  manuscript  still  remained  in  the  city  of  St  Cuthbert,  and 
in  the  History  of  North  Durham  by  Raine,  it  is  mentioned  in  the 
year  1637,  as  "  the  Book  of  St  Cuthbert  which  had  fallen  into 
the  sea."  We,  indeed,  notice  a  brown  stain  on  several  of  its 
leaves,  which  might  be  accounted  for  by  their  having  been 
saturated  with  salt  water,  did  we  but  know  what  would  be  the 
effect  of  a  sea-water  mark  after  so  long  a  period.  At  the  time 
of  the  dissolution  it  was  still  at  Durham,  and  no  record  of  what 
then  befel  it  has  been  preserved.2 

Sir  Robert  Cotton  discovered  it  in  the  possession  of  Robert 
Bowyer,  clerk  of  Parliament  under  James  I. 

1  Surtees  Society. 

2  Brayley's    Graphic    and  Historical  Illustrator,    \  834  ;    article   "  The 
Durham  Book,"  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Stevenson. 


300  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

The  resemblance  between  the  artistic  and  palaeographic 
peculiarities  of  the  Book  of  Kells  and  the  Durham  Book  is 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  Lindisfarne  was  founded  from 
lona,  which  had  been  given  to  St  Columba  and  his  Irish 
companions  in  the  sixth  century.  The  monks,  who  settled  at 
Holy  Island,  continued  the  Scoto-Irish  traditions  which  they 
had  brought  with  them,  and  perpetuated  them  in  their 
manuscripts. 

A  brief  notice  of  one  other  remarkable  MS.  may  be  made. 
It  is  to  be  found  in  the  press  Claudius,  B  4,  and  a  careful 
description  of  it  is  given  by  Westwood  in  his  Palceographia 
Sacra  Pictoria,  and  in  his  Miniatures  and  Ornaments  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Irish  MSS.  An  early  tradition  declares  it  to  be 
one  of  the  volumes  sent  to  St  Augustine  by  Pope  Gregory. 
However  that  may  be,  it  is  known  as  the  Augustine  Psalter,  and 
the  style  of  its  ornamentation  is  of  Roman  origin.  This 
ornamentation  consists  of  initial  letters  in  the  Celtic  manner ; 
but  gold,  which  was  hardly  ever  used  in  the  Lindisfarne  school, 
and  never  in  Irish  MSS.,  is  here  seen  in  profusion,  and  this 
detail  betrays  a  foreign  influence.  It  belonged  to  the  Abbey 
of  St  Augustine  at  Canterbury,  and  may  be  a  copy  executed 
in  that  house  of  one  of  the  books  sent  from  Rome. 

The  Paraphrase  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of  Joshua, 
by  >Elfric,  the  grammarian,  in  this  collection,  is  the  finest 
known  copy  of  the  work.  It  is  ornamented  with  397  drawings, 
illustrating  the  text  of  the  early  books  of  the  Bible.  The 
largest  miniature  represents  the  building  of  the  Tower  of 
Babel. 

The  Psychomachia  of  Prudentius  is  very  beautifully  written 
in  red  and  black  ink.  There  are  83  drawings.  A  replica  of 
this  manuscript,  which  belonged  to  the  monks  of  Malmesbury, 
is  now  at  Cambridge. 

Scarcely  less  interesting  historically  than  the  Lindisfarne 
Gospels  is  the  Book  of  the  Benefactors  of  Durham  Cathedral. 
Their  names  are  written  in  alternate  lines  of  gold  and  silver, 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  301 

the  binding  being  also  originally  of  gold  and  silver,  to  which  fact 
a  Latin  couplet  in  verse  testifies.  As  time  went  on  it  was 
carelessly  kept  by  the  monks  of  Durham,  but  entries  were 
made  up  to  the  eve  of  the  dissolution  of  the  monastery.  The 
book  has  been  published  by  the  Surtees  Society  under  its 
name  si  Liber  Vita,  and  edited  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Stevenson  who 
also  wrote  a  preface.  The  meaning  of  Liber  Vitas  was  that  the 
fact  of  the  benefactor's  name  being  inscribed  in  this  book  was 
coupled  with  the  hope  and  the  prayer  that  the  same  name  might 
at  last  find  a  place  in  the  Book  of  Life,  in  which  those  are 
enrolled,  who  shall  be  faithful  unto  death.1  Later  on  it  became 
a  sort  of  memorandum-book,  in  which  together  with  the  names 
of  benefactors,  was  entered  a  brief  account  of  the  nature  of  their 
donations.  Copies  of  charters  were  also  inserted,  and  other 
matters  of  an  historical  character. 

As  far  as  folio  42,  it  is  written  in  a  beautiful  ninth  century 
hand,  but  from  this  point  onwards,  the  gold  and  silver  lines  are 
omitted,  and  it  is  continued  in  varied  and  less  elegant  writing. 
This  manuscript  remained  at  Durham  till  the  dissolution,  and 
it  is  not  known  what  then  became  of  it,  nor  in  what  manner 
it  passed  finally  into  the  Cottonian  library.  It  is  thus  quaintly 
described  : — 

"There  did  lie  on  the  High  Altar  an  excellent  fine  book, 
very  richly  covered  with  gold  and  silver,  containing  the  names 
of  all  the  benefactors  towards  St  Cuthbert's  Church,  from  the 
very  original  foundation  thereof,  the  very  letters  of  the  book 
being  for  the  most  part  all  gilt,  as  is  apparent  in  the  said  book 
till  this  day.  The  laying  that  book  on  the  High  Altar  did 
show  how  highly  they  esteemed  their  founders  and  benefactors ; 
and  the  quotidian  remembrance  they  had  of  them  in  the  time 
of  Mass  and  divine  service.  And  this  did  argue  not  only  their 
gratitude,  but  also  a  most  divine  and  charitable  affection  to 
the  souls  of  their  benefactors  as  well  dead  as  living,  which 
1  Preface  to  the  published  volume,  p.  8. 


302  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

book  is  yet  extant,  declaring  the  said  use  in  the  inscription 
thereof." l 

These  examples  may  suffice  as  a  glimpse  into  the  nature 
of  this  treasure-house,  but  where  so  much  is  rare  and 
costly,  it  is  not  easy  to  make  a  selection  that  shall  be  fairly 
representative. 

With  regard  to  the  peculiar  designation  of  the  places 
occupied  by  the  books,  Sir  Robert  Cotton  arranged  them  in 
fourteen  presses,  each  press  being  surmounted  by  a  bust  of 
one  of  the  twelve  Roman  emperors,  the  two  last  supporting 
those  of  Cleopatra  and  Faustina.  The  contents  of  each  press 
were  placed  in  boxes  or  portfolios,  or  were  bound  up  in  volumes, 
each  box,  portfolio,  or  volume  being  designated  by  a  letter  of 
the  alphabet,  each  document  having  a  special  number. 

After  the  death  of  its  founder  the  library  remained  for 
some  time  in  sequestration,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the 
new  baronet,  Sir  Thomas  Cotton,  who  complained  bitterly  that 
he  was  shut  out  from  his  study,  the  best  room  in  his  house. 
A  schedule  was  at  length  drawn  up,  consisting  of  a  large 
vellum  roll  still  extant  in  the  collection,  showing  that  it 
contained  nothing  that  did  not  belong  to  him,  and  ultimately 
he  gained  admission. 

Sir  Symond  D'Ewes  made  no  secret  of  his  opinion  that 
Sir  Thomas  was  "  wholly  addicted  to  the  tenacious  increasing 
of  his  worldly  wealth,  and  altogether  unworthy  to  be  master 
of  so  inestimable  a  library."  We  cannot  altogether  agree 
with  this  verdict,  since  Sir  Thomas  avenged  himself  by  lending 
D'Ewes  his  father's  collection  of  coins  ;  and  it  is  but  fair  to  add 
that  he  appears  in  general  to  have  been  no  less  liberal,  one 
might  almost  say  careless,  in  lending  than  his  father.  Rancour 
may,  however,  have  set  in  later  on,  for  Dugdale,  writing  to 
D'Ewes  in  1639  says,  "  I  am  in  despair  to  obtain  the  books  of 

1  The  Ancient  Rites  and  Monuments  of  the  Monastical  and  Cathedral 
Church  of  Durham,  collected  out  of  ancient  manuscripts  about  the  time  of 
the  Suppression, 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  303 

Sir  Thomas  Cotton  which  you  desire."  Richard  James,  librarian, 
fell  under  the  same  condemnation  as  his  master,  for  D'Ewes 
describes  him  as  "a  wretched  mercenary  fellow." 

Sir  Thomas  Cotton  died  in  1662,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son,  John,  who  was  somewhat  of  a  scholar.  Some 
respectable  Latin  verses  written  by  him  occur  among  Smith's 
MSS.  at  Oxford.  He  married  Dorothy,  daughter  and  co- 
heiress of  Edmund  Anderson,  of  Stratton  in  Bedfordshire,  and 
it  appears  that  during  the  civil  war  the  library  was  removed 
to  that  place  for  greater  safety.  This  was  the  beginning  of  its 
wanderings  and  vicissitudes,  which  lasted  nearly  a  hundred 
years. 

The  first  regular  catalogue  of  the  Cottonian  library  was 
made  and  printed  at  Oxford  by  Dr  Thomas  Smith  in  1696. 
This  catalogue  is  defective  in  many  ways,  especially  as  regards 
State  Papers  and  detached  tracts,  of  which  there  are  no  fewer 
than  170  volumes,  which  are  here  severally  entered  under  one 
head  only,  although  they  each  contain  on  an  average  as  many 
as  a  hundred  separate  documents  on  different  subjects. 
Dugdale,  who  was  allowed  to  make  what  use  he  liked  of  the 
library,  discovered  80  of  these  volumes  in  loose  bundles,  and 
had  them  bound.  But  they  were  still  practically  useless  for 
want  of  proper  descriptions  and  indices,  till  Planta,  keeper  of 
the  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  published  his  descriptive 
catalogue  in  1802.  Although  not  without  faults,  it  has  never 
been  superseded. 

It  is  to  the  third  baronet  that  we  are  mainly  indebted  for 
the  magnificent  project  of  bequeathing  the  Cottonian  library 
to  the  nation.  He  died  in  1702,  before  the  final  steps  had  been 
taken  in  this  direction ;  but  his  grandson  and  immediate  suc- 
cessor carried  out  his  wishes  which  had  also  been  those  of  his 
father  and  grandfather. 

The  statute,  drawn  up  in  the  year  1700  (12  and  13  William 
III.)  is  entitled,  "An  Act  for  the  better  settling  and  preserving 
the  library  kept  in  the  house  at  Westminster,  called  Cotton 


304  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

House,  in  the  name  and  family  of  the  Cottons  for  the  benefit  of 
the  public." 

The  next  step  was  to  have  the  books  carefully  inspected, 
and  compared  with  Smith's  catalogue,  now  found  to  be  in- 
adequate. Many  of  the  manuscripts  were  reported  to  be  in  a 
state  of  decay,  the  place  where  they  were  kept  not  being 
suitable.  In  1706,  Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  commissioned  to 
fit  up  the  study  for  public  use,  but  he  declared  that  Cotton 
House  was  in  a  ruinous  condition  ;  and  in  consequence  of  his 
report,  in  the  following  year,  another  Act  of  Parliament  decreed 
that  to  increase  the  public  utility  of  the  library,  Cotton  House 
should  be  purchased  of  Sir  John  Cotton  for  £4500,  and  a  new 
building  erected  for  the  collection  of  books.  Still,  nothing  was 
done,  till  the  house,  actually  threatening  to  tumble  down,  the 
books  were  removed  to  Essex  House,  in  the  Strand,  where  they 
remained  for  twenty -eight  years.  In  1730,  Ashburnham  House, 
Westminster,  was  purchased  by  the  nation  for  the  reception  of 
the  Cottonian,  together  with  the  Royal  library.  It  was  here, 
in  1731,  that  the  terrible  fire  broke  out  in  which  so  many 
valuable  manuscripts  were  destroyed. 

At  about  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  23rd  October,  Dr 
Bentley,  the  librarian,  and  his  family,  who  lived  at  Ashburnham 
House,  were  roused  from  sleep  by  a  suffocating  smoke  which 
soon  afterwards  burst  into  flames.  The  outbreak  was  caused 
by  a  wooden  mantelpiece  taking  fire,  in  the  room  immediately 
under  the  two  libraries.  It  was  at  first  hoped  that  the  flames 
might  be  extinguished  by  throwing  water  upon  the  woodwork 
of  the  room  actually  on  fire,  so  that  they  did  not  begin  to 
remove  the  books  as  soon  as  they  should  have  done.  But 
seeing  that  this  was  useless,  Mr  Casley,  deputy  librarian, 
hastened  to  rescue  the  famous  Alexandrian  MS.  in  the  Royal 
library,  and  the  books  in  the  Cottonian  press  named  Augustus, 
as  being  considered  the  most  valuable.  These  are  principally 
charts,  maps,  grants,  and  papal  bulls,  all  relating  to  early 
English  history.  Several  of  the  presses  were  then  removed 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  305 

bodily,  but  as  the  fire  spread  with  alarming  rapidity,  and  there 
was  a  delay  in  the  arrival  of  the  engines,  it  was  discovered 
none  too  soon,  that  the  backs  of  some  of  the  presses  were  on 
fire.  Then  the  books  were  seized  and  thrown  out  of  windows, 
after  which  they  were  carried  into  Westminster  School  and 
the  Little  Cloisters.  By  permission  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter 
they  subsequently  found  a  temporary  home  in  a  new  building 
that  had  been  erected  as  a  dormitory  for  the  school. 

A  committee  was  at  once  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Commons  to  inquire  into  the  amount  of  injury  sustained.  It 
was  found  that  a  great  number  of  manuscripts  had  suffered  from 
the  engine-water,  as  well  as  from  fire,  and  the  report  of  the 
commissioners  stated,  that  out  of  958  volumes  of  MSS.  746  were 
unharmed,  and  98  partially  injured. 

The  press  named  Otho  had  suffered  the  most  In  the  table 
drawn  up  by  Casley  in  his  appendix  to  the  Royal  library,  not 
one  volume  in  Otho  is  seen  to  be  intact;  16  are  marked  defec- 
tive, 55  as  lost,  burnt,  or  defaced  so  as  not  to  be  distinguishable. 
Vitellius  was  the  next  greatest  sufferer,  46  volumes  being  pre- 
served, 28  defective,  and  34  seriously  damaged.  Vespasian,  with 
its  fine  collection  of  historical  materials  for  the  history  of 
England  and  Scotland,  its  dramas  in  Old  English  verse,  and 
the  famous  Coventry  Mystery  Plays  and  others  happily  escaped 
altogether.1  Casley's  figures  differ  slightly  from  those  of  the 
commissioners:  out  of  a  total  of  958  volumes,  he  notes  748  as 
uninjured,  99  as  defective,  and  1 1 1  as  lost,  burnt,  or  defaced. 

On  the  ist  November  the  work  of  restoration  began,  and 
was  carried  out  by  Bentley,  Casley,  three  clerks  from  the  Record 
Office,  a  bookbinder,  and  others.  The  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Commons  was  frequently  present.  Some  of  the  MSS.  in- 
clined to  mildew  were  dried  before  a  fire.  Some  would  have 
rotted  if  they  had  not  been  taken  out  of  their  bindings,  so 

1  Narrative  of  the  Fire  which  happened  at  Ashbumham  House,  23rd 
October  1731.  Report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Commons. 

V 


306  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

thoroughly  had  the  water  permeated.  The  paper  books  which 
had  received  stains  were  taken  to  pieces  and  plunged  into  the 
softest  cold  water  that  could  be  procured,  and  when  the  stains 
disappeared  they  were  put  into  alum  and  water,  and  then  hung 
upon  lines  to  dry. 

The  best  means  of  stretching  vellum  to  its  original  dimen- 
sions, after  it  has  been  shrivelled  and  contracted,  had  not  at  that 
time  been  discovered,  but  the  restorers  did  what  they  could.  It 
was  first  softened  in  cold  water,  then  those  leaves,  which  had 
become  glued  together  by  the  heat  melting  all  kinds  of  extrane- 
ous matter,  were  separated  by  means  of  an  ivory  cutter,  and  the 
glutinous  substances  carefully  removed  with  the  fingers,  the 
parchments  smoothed  with  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  their 
backs  pressed  with  a  clean  flannel.  Fragments  were  also  care- 
fully cleaned  and  preserved,  and  upon  many  of  these  with  which 
the  original  restorers  could  do  nothing,  Sir  Frederick  Madden 
afterwards  worked  wonders.  By  his  method,  100  volumes  were 
repaired  on  vellum,  and  97  on  paper. 

Among  these  mutilated  fragments  was  the  priceless  fourth 
century  manuscript  of  Genesis,  Otho,  B  6,  which  was  thought  to 
have  been  taken  abroad  as  it  could  not  be  found  after  the  fire. 
For  a  while  it  was  given  up  as  irrevocably  lost,  but  Sir  Frederick 
Madden  discovered  the  much  burnt  remains  and  pieced  them 
together.  This  Book  of  Genesis  was  at  one  time  thought  to  be 
the  oldest  Greek  MS.  in  England.  It  is  now  known  that  the 
four  leaves  of  the  gospel  in  Greek,  Titus,  C  15,  are  as  old  or 
even  older.  The  Oxford  librarian,  Thomas  James,  wrote  in  the 
beginning  of  the  volume  that  it  was  brought  into  this  country 
by  two  Greek  bishops  as  a  present  to  Henry  VIII.  They  told 
him  that  according  to  an  old  tradition  it  had  belonged  to  Origen, 
and  there  was  nothing  in  the  text  to  make  the  supposition  in- 
credible. This,  if  true,  would  carry  the  manuscript  back  1 500 
years  at  least,  with  a  possibility  of  its  being  much  more  ancient. 
It  had  been  the  subject  of  a  dispute  in  the  time  of  the  first  Sir 
John  Cotton,  when  it  was  supposed  to  have  been  lost.  All  at 


THE  SPOILS  OF  THE  MONASTERIES  307 

once  it  was  discovered  in  the  possession  of  Lady  Stafford,  who 
stoutly  maintained  that  it  had  belonged  to  the  late  earl,  her 
husband,  who  had  lent  it  to  Sir  Thomas  Cotton ;  and  that 
while  it  was  in  his  hands  he  caused  it  to  be  newly  bound,  and 
his  coat  of  arms  fixed  upon  it.  She  said,  however,  that  Sir  John 
might  have  it  for  £40,  but  that  she  would  not  take  a  farthing 
less,  adding  that  he  had  already  offered  her  £30  in  her  own 
house,  but  that  she  had  refused  the  sum.  Mr  Gilbert  Crouch, 
who  was  negotiating  for  Sir  John,  in  explaining  the  matter  to 
Dugdale,  said  that  if  Sir  John  Cotton  had  "  so  great  a  mind  to 
the  book,  he  were  better  give  this  other  £10  than  run  the 
charge  and  hazard  of  a  suit."1 

All  that  now  remains  of  this  uniquely  beautiful  MS.,  painted 
on  every  page,  are  eighteen  melancholy  scraps  of  no  use  but  as 
a  monument  of  the  ingenuity  with  which  they  have  been  pieced 
together,  mended,  and  preserved. 

The  Chronicle  of  Wendover,  which  was  also  believed  to  have 
perished,  was  found  and  repaired  in  the  time  of  Sir  Frederick 
Madden. 

A  fragment  of  another  MS.,  marked  as  missing  in  Planta's 
catalogue,  has  found  its  way  to  the  Bodleian  library.  It  con- 
sists of  ten  folios  of  the  Life  of  St  Basil,  and  a  note  by  Hearne 
says  that  it  came  from  a  Cottonian  MS. 

Grand  and  imposing  as  the  Cottonian  library  still  is,  it  is 
painful  to  consider  how  incomparably  finer  it  must  have  been 
during  the  life  of  its  founder,  before  it  suffered  from  the  ravages 
of  the  fire,  and  from  the  carelessness  or  dishonesty  of  so  many 
borrowers.  Sir  John  Cotton  avowed  that  many  books  lent  to 
Selden  were  never  returned  ;  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  was  also 
guilty  in  the  same  respect.  A  manuscript  now  in  the  Bodleian 
library  (Barlow  49)  was  borrowed  from  the  Cottonian  by  Dr 
Prideaux,  and  never  returned.  It  was  afterwards  exposed  for 
sale  at  Worcester,  and  bought  by  Dr  Barlow,  who  presented  it 
to  the  Bodleian.  Parliamentary  rolls  often  suffered  a  like  fate, 
1  Life,  Diary,  and  Correspondence  of  Sir  William  Dugdale. 


308  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  instances  of  similar  losses  could  be  largely  multiplied. 
The  loss  of  the  Utrecht  Psalter  is,  however,  perhaps  the  most 
grievous  that  the  library  has  sustained  from  borrowers. 

Some  of  the  manuscripts,  injured  by  the  fire  at  Ashburnham 
House,  were  further  mutilated  by  another  fire  which  occurred 
on  the  premises  of  a  bookbinder  on  the  loth  July  1865. 

In  1753  the  government  purchased  the  large  Natural  History 
and  Art  Collection  of  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  together  with  a  library  of 
50,000  volumes,  which  were  deposited  in  Montague  House, 
Bloomsbury,  on  the  site  of  the  present  British  Museum  Build- 
ings. Hither  the  Cottonian  and  Royal  libraries  were  brought, 
forming,  together  with  the  Sloane  manuscripts,  the  nucleus  of  the 
great  national  collections  of  which  we  are  justly  proud,  and 
which,  under  their  present  efficient  and  courteous  management, 
are  rendered  so  useful  to  students. 

The  British  Museum  was  formally  opened  to  the  public  at 
Montague  House  in  1759.  But  it  grew  so  rapidly  that  soon 
more  space  was  needed,  and  in  1823  the  eastern  wing  of  the 
present  building  was  erected  to  receive  the  library  of  George 
III.  presented  to  the  museum  by  George  IV.  The  whole  build- 
ing was  completed  in  1847. 


Photo  by  Emiry  Walkrr. 

HENRY,  PRINCE  OF  WALES  (Eldest  Son  of  James  I.). 

From  a  Portrait  by  Van  Somers  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


[To  face  I'ege  309. 


V 

THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY 

THE  Royal  library  is  in  many  ways  the  most  splendid  of 
our  national  manuscript  collections.  Had  it  been  fortunate 
enough,  like  the  Harleian  library,  to  number  a  Wanley 
among  its  custodians  and  biographers,  the  history  of  its 
formation  would  read  like  a  fairy-tale.  But,  unhappily,  we 
have  to  depend  for  our  chief  data  on  what  Casley,  the  "  dry 
as  dust"  par  excellence  of  librarians  could  tell  us,  and  though 
his  knowledge  of  the  age  of  MSS.  was  admirable,  he  was 
remarkably  uncommunicative  regarding  their  pedigree,  meagre 
in  his  descriptions,  and  apparently  insensible  to  palaeographic 
beauty.  There  is  scarcely,  in  the  whole  British  Museum,  a 
less  satisfactory  book  than  his  catalogue  of  the  Royal  library. 
Thus,  the  student  is  hampered  by  the  want  of  a  guide,  and 
must  hew  paths  for  himself  through  the  luxuriant  growth  and 
accumulations  of  many  centuries.  In  point  of  mere  size,  the 
Royal  library  ranks  third  among  the  four  great  collections 
acquired  by  the  British  Museum  at  the  time  of  its  foundation 
— the  Harleian  numbering  7639  MSS. ;  the  Sloane,  4001  ;  the 
Royal,  1950;  the  Cottonian,  900. 

Of  the  three  others  we  have  ample  details ;  their  hoards 
have  been  thoroughly  ransacked,  and  there  are  scarcely 
any  surprises  for  the  student.  We  can,  without  much  trouble 


310  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

lay  our  hands  on  any  fact,  beauty,  or  excellence  to  be 
found  in  them,  for  there  are  hardly  any  hidden  gems. 
But  with  the  Royal  library  it  is  different.  Each  student 
is  his  own  pioneer,  and  must  make  voyages  of  discovery 
if  he  would  know  something  of  the  riches  which  it 
contains. 

Its  history  is  scarcely  more  complete  than  its  catalogue, 
although  the  nucleus  of  the  collection  must  be  almost  coeval 
with  the  monarchy.  Before  the  reign  of  James  I.,  however, 
there  were  no  records  except  the  strangely  anomalous  ones 
contained  in  the  Privy  Purse  Expenses,  and  in  the  Wardrobe 
and  Household  Accounts  of  the  various  English  kings  who 
have  added  to  the  library.  It  is  curious  to  light,  among  the 
sums  disbursed  for  such  items  as  feather-beds  and  four-post 
bedsteads,  on  the  price  paid  for  a  rare  manuscript,  or  for 
the  binding  of  a  choice  codex.  Queen  Elizabeth's  "Keeper 
of  the  Books  "  was  also  "  Court  Distiller  of  Odoriferous  Herbs," 
and  received  a  better  salary  as  perfumer  than  as  librarian. 
But  in  times  when  books  were  more  costly,  the  office  of 
custodian  was  considered  an  honourable  one,  and  a  Close 
Roll  of  the  year  1252  makes  mention  of  the  Custos  librorum 
Regis. 

Impossible  though  it  be  to  fix  the  exact  date  or  even 
reign  when  the  English  kings  began  to  collect  books,  we 
shall  not  be  wrong  if  we  infer  that  the  Royal  library  had 
already  a  very  real  existence  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  when 
a  great  literary  revival  took  place.  Although  the  movement 
originated  in  the  cloister,  the  court  followed  in  its  wake,  and 
William  of  Malmesbury  had  his  secular  counterpart  in  Alfred 
of  Beverley.  A  favourite  of  the  king's,  Walter  de  Map,  who 
had  been  a  student  in  Paris,  and  Gerald  de  Barri  (Giraldus 
Cambrensis)  divided  the  honours  between  courtly  and  popular 
themes,  while  a  number  of  poets  and  romanticists  sprang  up 
and  wove  fantastic  myths  and  legends  out  of  such  material  as 
the  Crusades,  the  Arthurian  traditions,  and  the  feats  of 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  311 

Charlemagne.  King  John,  with  scarcely  a  quality  which  men 
cared  to  praise,  was,  strangely  enough,  fond  of  books  and 
of  scholars.  A  taste  for  learning  was  gradually  leavening  the 
barbarous  Normanic  lump,  spreading  downwards  from  monarch 
to  people.  Two  years  before  John's  death  Roger  Bacon 
was  born,  whose  opus  Ma/us  embraced  every  branch  of  science, 
and  whose  life  is  the  whole  intellectual  life  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  Matthew  Paris,  the  last  of  the  great  monastic 
historians,  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Henry  III.,  who  delighted 
in  his  scholarship,  and  loved  to  visit  him  in  the  scriptorium 
at  St  Alban's  where  he  himself  contributed  to  the  famous 
chronicle,  which  would  alone  have  sufficed  to  make  the 
reputation  of  the  learned  Benedictine.  Thus,  indirectly,  we 
are  led  to  the  Royal  library. 

In  1250,  a  French  book  is  mentioned  in  a  State  Paper 
as  belonging  to  the  king,  but  being  actually  in  the  keeping 
of  the  Knights  Templars,  who  are  commanded  to  hand  it 
over  to  an  officer  of  the  Wardrobe,  with  the  apparent  object 
that  the  king's  painters  might  copy  from  it  when  painting 
a  room  called  the  Antioch  Chamber. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  a  part  of  the  Royal  library 
was  kept  in  the  Treasury  of  the  Exchequer,  and  a  few  of 
the  books  are  mentioned  in  the  Wardrobe  Accounts  of  the 
year  1302.  These  included  Latin  service  books,  treatises  on 
devotional  subjects,  and  romances.  One  book  is  described 
as  "  Textus,  in  a  case  of  leather  on  which  magnates  are  wont 
to  be  sworn." 

All  through  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  there 
are  occasional  allusions  to  the  king's  books  in  the  Wardrobe 
Accounts,  and  the  Exchequer  Inventory  of  Edward  II. 
enumerates  "  a  book  bound  in  red  leather,  De  regimine  Regum  ; 
a  small  book  on  the  rule  of  the  Knights  Templars,  De  regula 
Templariorum  ;  a  stitched  book,  De  Vita  sancti  Patricii ;  and 
a  stitched  book  in  a  tongue  unknown  to  the  English  which 
begins  thus  :  Edmygaw  dorit  doyrmyd  dinas"  and  other  books 


312  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  rolls  "  very  foreign  to  the  English  tongue,"  the  scribe, 
not  knowing  Welsh  even  by  sight,  whereas,  although  he 
might  not  be  able  to  read  them,  he  would  probably  know 
the  look  of  Greek  or  Hebrew  manuscripts.  The  list  closes 
with  the  Chronicle  of  Roderick  de  Ximenez,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  "bound  in  green  leather."1 

A  document,  belonging  to  the  year  1419,  and  printed 
by  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  relates  to  the  delivery  into  the 
King's  Treasury  of  five  volumes,  consisting  of  a  Bible,  a 
copy  of  the  Book  of  Chronicles,  a  treatise,  De  conceptione  Beatce 
Maria,  a  compendium  of  theology,  and  a  volume  entitled 
Libellus  de  emendatione  vita.  But  in  the  following  year  these 
manuscripts  were  given  to  the  monastery  at  Sheen.  In  1426 
a  book  described  as  Egesippus,  another  as  Liber  de  observantia 
Papa,  were  borrowed  from  the  library  in  the  Treasury  by 
Cardinal  Beaufort,  and  there  are  subsequent  notices  of  the 
return  and  re-loan  of  the  same  volumes  to  the  same  borrower. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  a  manuscript  called  Hegesippus 
De  Bello  Judaico,  etc.,  still  in  the  Royal  library,  is  ascribed 
by  Casley  to  the  eleventh  century,  and  may  be  identified  with 
the  former  of  these  two  books. 

In  the  following  years  entries  occur  of  works  on  Civil  Law, 
and  of  some  others  being  lent  to  the  Master  of  King's  College, 
Cambridge,  and  of  their  subsequent  presentation  to  that  house, 
with  the  assent  of  the  Lords  of  the  Council 

In  the  Wardrobe  accounts  of  Edward  IV.  (Royal  MS.  14, 
C  8),  there  are  entries  relating  to  "  the  coveryng  and  garnysh- 
ing  of  the  bookes  of  oure  saide  Souverain  Lorde  the  Kinge," 
which  mark  his  possession  in  1480  of  certain  choice  MSS.,  and 
the  same  document  shows  that  these  were  bound  by  Piers 
Bauduyn  for  the  king.  Among  them  were  a  Froissart,  the 
binding,  gilding,  and  dressing  of  which  cost  2Os.,  and 
a  Biblia  Historians  (now  marked  19  D  2  in  the  Royal  library), 

1  Stapleton's  Exchequer  Inventory,  Edward  II, 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  313 

bound  and  ornamented  for  the  same  sum.  On  a  fly-leaf  is  an 
inscription  recording  its  purchase  for  100  marks  by  William  de 
Montacute,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  after  the  battle  of  Poitiers.  It 
had  been  taken  as  loot  among  the  baggage  of  the  French 
king.  On  his  death  in  1 397,  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  bequeathed 
it  to  his  wife,  who,  in  her  will,  ordered  that  it  should  be  sold  for 
forty  livres. 

When  the  king  went  from  London  to  Eltham  his  books 
went  with  him,  and  some  were  put  into  "  divers  cofyns  of  fyrre," 
and  others  into  his  carriage.  They  were  bound  in  "  figured 
cramoisie  velvet,  with  rich  laces  and  tassels,  with  buttons  of  silk 
and  gold,  and  with  clasps  bearing  the  king's  arms."  The 
only  reference  to  books  in  the  will  of  Edward  IV.  is  in 
regard  to  such  as  appertained  "to  oure  chapell,"  which 
he  bequeathed  to  his  queen,  such  only  being  excepted  "as 
we  shall  hereafter  dispose  to  goo  to  oure  saide  Collage  of 
Wyndesore." l 

Henry  VII.  stands  between  the  Middle  Ages  and  modern 
times,  but  his  additions  to  the  Royal  library  consisted  chiefly 
of  Renaissance  literature.  Notwithstanding  his  parsimony  in 
most  matters,  his  Privy  Purse  Expenses  contain  a  remarkable 
series  of  entries  of  payments  for  books,  for  copying  manuscripts, 
and  for  binding  them.  On  one  occasion  the  sum  of  £2$  was 
spent  on  a  single  book,  and  there  is  an  item  of  £2  paid  to  a 
clerk  for  copying  The  Amity  of  Flanders.  He  bought  a  great 
number  of  romances  in  French  as  well  as  the  grand  series  of 
volumes  printed  on  vellum  by  the  famous  Antoine  Verard. 
Bacon  describes  Henry  VII.  as  "  a  prince,  sad,  serious,  and  full  of 
thoughts  and  secret  observations,  and  full  of  notes  and  memorials 
of  his  own  hand  .  .  .  rather  studious  than  learned,  reading  most 
books  that  were  of  any  worth,  in  the  French  tongue.  Yet  he 
understood  the  Latin." 2 

He  had  also  a  taste  for  finely  illuminated  books  of  devotion, 

1  Add.  MS.,  Transcript  by  Rymer,  No.  4615. 

2  Life  and  Reign  of  Henry  VII,,  i.,  637. 


314  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

and  presented  a  beautiful  Missal  to  his  daughter  Margaret, 
Queen  of  Scots,  in  which  he  inscribed  his  own  name  in  enormous 
letters  several  times.  This  book  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire.  In  the  Royal  collection  is  another  Missal 
which  belonged  to  the  same  king,  written  in  a  late  Gothic 
hand. 

Henry  VII.  was  careful  to  have  his  children  well  instructed, 
and  his  second  son,  being  intended  for  the  Church,  received  an 
education  fitting  him  for  an  ecclesiastical  career.  In  his  youth 
Henry  VIII.  displayed  considerable  literary  talent,  posed  as  a 
patron  of  scholars,  and  smiled  benignly  on  such  geniuses  as 
Erasmus,  More,  Linacre,  and  Grocyn ;  but  in  after  years  he 
was  more  keen  to  destroy  other  peoples'  libraries  than  to  build 
up  his  own.  The  accounts  of  his  Privy  Purse  Expenses  contain 
few  entries  of  disbursements  for  books,  and  to  take  one  short 
period  as  a  specimen,  we  find  that  the  whole  sum  spent  on  his 
library  between  1530  and  1532,  including  not  merely  all  moneys 
paid  for  binding,  but  also  an  indefinite  amount  "  to  the  taylour 
and  skynner  for  certeyn  stuff,  and  workmanship  for  my 
lady  Anne,"  was  only  £124,  i6s.  3d.  These  figures  become 
still  more  insignificant  if  we  compare  them  with  those  repre- 
senting the  money  spent  during  the  same  period  for  jewels 
alone,  exclusive  of  plate,  which  amounted  to  the  prodigious  sum 
of  £10,800. 

But  although  Henry  VIII.  did  not  buy  books  extensively, 
he  sometimes  borrowed  them,  and  several  entries  chronicle  the 
lending  of  books  to  him  by  monastic  and  other  libraries,  when 
he  was  pestering  Christendom  for  arguments  in  favour  of  his 
divorce  from  Katharine  of  Arragon. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  adverse  circumstances,  the  Royal 
library  had  been  steadily  growing  in  the  course  of  ages,  and 
had  by  this  time  assumed  notable  proportions.  Henry  VIII. 
found  himself  the  possessor  of  a  collection  of  books  at  Windsor, 
comprising  109  volumes  in  bindings  of  velvet  and  leather,  with 
silver  and  jewelled  clasps ;  of  another  a.t  Westminster,  consisting 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  315 

of  Latin  primers,  some  richly  ornamented,  of  a  few  Greek 
authors,  Latin  classics,  and  English  chronicles,  "  bokes  written  in 
tholde  Saxon  tongue."  He  had  another  library  at  Beaulieu 
(now  New  Hall)  in  Essex,  with  about  60  volumes  of  Latin 
authors,  besides  works  of  the  Fathers,  dictionaries,  and  histories. 
At  Beddington  in  Surrey  he  had  many  chronicles  and  romances, 
and  "a  greate  boke  of  parchment  written  and  lymned  with 
gold  of  graver's  work — De  Confessione  Amantis,  which  may  be 
identified  as  the  MS.,  now  marked  18  C  22,  in  the  Royal 
library.  At  Richmond  was  a  small  collection  made  by  his 
father,  consisting  chiefly  of  missals  and  romances.  At  St 
James's  Palace  were,  among  others,  works  described  vaguely 
as  "  a  boke  of  parchment  containing  divers  patterns ;  a 
white  boke  written  on  parchment ;  one  boke  covered  with 
green  velvet  contained  in  a  wooden  case ;  a  little  boke 
covered  with  crimson  velvet,"  and  so  on,  a  curious  method  of 
cataloguing  and  utterly  useless  for  the  purpose  of  identifica- 
tion after  so  long  an  interval.  Here  and  there  a  distinctive 
title  occurs,  such  as  the  Foundation  Book  of  Henry  VIItKs 
Chapel. 

All  these  different  small  collections  together  represented 
the  Royal  library  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Henry  VIII.  had  the  greater  number  of  the  books  removed  to 
Greenwich,  where  there  were  already  some  printed  volumes  and 
a  few  manuscripts.  That  part  which  remained  at  Westminster 
was  enriched  with  some  of  the  spoils  of  the  monasteries,  placed 
there  perhaps  by  Leland  to  save  them  from  destruction.1 
Among  these  was  a  Latin  Evangelia  of  the  eleventh  century 
(i  D  3),  which  belonged  to  the  monks  of  Rochester,  and  which 
had  been  given  to  them  by  a  certain  Countess  Goda,  according 
to  an  inscription  in  the  book  itself.  From  Christ  Church, 
Canterbury,  came  a  fine  copy  of  the  gospels  (i  A  18), 
presented  to  that  monastery  by  King  Athelstan,  and  from  St 

1  E.  Edward's  Memoirs  of  Libraries^  i.,  364  et  seq. 


316  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Alban's  several  choice  historical  and  theological  works  from  the 
pen  of  Matthew  Paris. 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  attention  bestowed  on  the 
Royal  library  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  was  an  advantage 
to  it  or  the  reverse.  It  is  true  that  the  energy  of  Sir  John 
Cheke,  and  Roger  Ascham,  King's  librarian,  secured  for  it 
the  manuscripts  that  had  belonged  to  Martin  Bucer;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  the  rabid  intolerance  of  Edward's  Council 
deprived  it  of  many  of  its  valuable  contents.  On  the  2  5th 
January  1550,  a  so-called  king's  letter,  sent  from  the  Council 
Board,  authorised  certain  commissioners  to  make  a  descent 
upon  all  public  and  private  libraries,  and  to  "cull  out  all 
superstitious  books,  as  missals,  legends,  and  such  like,  and 
to  deliver  the  garniture  of  the  books,  being  either  gold  or 
silver,  to  Sir  Anthony  Aucher.1  The  havoc  thus  wrought 
was  irremediable,  and  not  even  the  king's  own  library  was 
spared  the  terrible  perquisitions.  But  at  the  same  time  we 
cannot  but  marvel  that  still  so  many  of  the  condemned  books 
should  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  commissioners.  In  the 
same  year  the  libraries  at  Oxford  were  also  "purged  of  a 
great  part  of  Fathers  and  Schoolmen,"  and  great  heaps  of 
books  set  on  fire  in  the  market-place  were  watched  with 
delight  by  the  younger  members  of  the  university,  who  named 
the  conflagration  "  Scotus's  funeral." 

The  short  and  troubled  reign  of  Mary  afforded  no  scope 
for  literary  activity,  and  Elizabeth  was  far  too  busy  outwitting 
her  enemies  abroad,  and  controlling  the  factious  tendencies  of 
her  friends  at  home,  to  be  able  to  cultivate  her  taste  for  books. 
Nevertheless,  although  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  years  the 
Royal  library  had  suffered  as  much  as  it  had  gained,  it  was 
even  then  a  goodly  sight.  Paul  Hentzner,  the  German  literary 
tourist,  who  visited  it  in  1598,  says  that  it  was  "well  stored 
with  Greek,  Latin,  and  French  books,  bound  in  velvet  of 

1  Council  Book  of  Edward  Vf, 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  317 

different  colours,  although  chiefly  red,  with  clasps  of  gold  and 
silver,  the  corners  of  some  being  otherwise  adorned  with  gold 
and  precious  stones." l  Perhaps  the  custodians  vouchsafed  him 
but  a  glance  at  these  outer  splendours,  for  he  tells  us  nothing 
of  the  treasures  within,  of  which  all  this  magnificence  was  only 
the  antechamber. 

But  the  golden  age  of  the  Royal  library  was  in  the  reign 
of  James  I.,  and  its  greatest  benefactor  a  youth  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eighteen.  It  were  idle  to  speculate  on  what 
might  have  been  the  future  of  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  had 
he  lived  to  fulfil  the  bright  promise  of  his  boyhood.  To  a 
singularly  well-balanced  mind,  he  appears  to  have  joined  an 
amiability  of  character  that  endeared  him  to  all  save  the 
crotchety  doctrinaire  who  sat  upon  the  throne.  He  loved 
hunting  and  hawking  and  all  healthy  open-air  pursuits  no 
less  than  he  loved  books,  and  the  society  of  men,  who  were 
the  history-makers  of  his  day.  He  would  visit  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  in  his  prison  in  the  Tower,  and  listen  to  his  brilliant 
projects  for  the  future  greatness  of  England  in  the  development 
of  her  colonies,  and  the  annexation  of  still  barbarous  lands, 
the  fabulous  wealth  of  which  was  the  life-long  dream  of  the 
veteran  explorer. 

But  Raleigh  was  not  a  mere  dreamer,  as  his  History  of  the 
World  shows — a  work  which,  written  during  his  long  years  of 
captivity,  became  the  text-book  and  standard  authority  for 
the  next  two  hundred  years.  Whatever  his  faults,  and  he 
had  perhaps  grave  ones,  it  was  his  misfortune  to  be  in  some 
ways  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  in  consequence 
of  which  his  finer  qualities  were  misunderstood  by  most  of  his 
contemporaries.  Prince  Henry  was  not,  however,  among  their 
number ;  he  lent  a  fascinated  ear  to  Raleigh's  grand,  patriotic 
schemes,  and  had  they  both  lived,  the  one  to  reign,  the  other 
to  counsel  and  guide,  England  might  not  only  have  been 

1  P.  Hentzner,  Itinerarium  Germania,  Angltce,  etc.,  p.  188. 


318  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

spared  the  most  disgraceful  blot  on  her  escutcheon,  but  have 
anticipated  by  more  than  two  hundred  years  her  subsequent 
achievements.  It  was  without  doubt  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  who 
inspired  the  young  prince  to  take  the  Royal  library  under 
his  protection,  and  his  pupil  threw  himself  heart  and  soul  into 
the  work,  so  that  rightly  or  wrongly  he  has  been  considered 
its  real  founder. 

On  the  death  of  John,  Lord  Lumley,  Prince  Henry  secured 
his  fine  collection  of  MSS.,  by  which  means  he  more  than 
made  up  for  the  loss  which  the  Royal  library  had  sus- 
tained by  his  father's  incomprehensible  warrant  to  Sir  Thomas 
Bodley  to  choose  any  of  the  books  in  any  of  his  houses  or 
libraries.1 

Lord  Lumley  had  not  only  been  a  diligent  collector  himself, 
but  had  inherited  a  valuable  library  from  his  wife's  father,  Henry 
Fitzalan,  Earl  of  Arundel,  who  had  begun  to  collect  at  the 
most  propitious  moment  for  acquiring  rare  MSS.,  and  had 
obtained  a  portion  of  Archbishop  Cranmer's  library.  The 
prince's  Privy  Purse  Expenses  have  unfortunately  been 
destroyed,  but  one  single  entry  of  the  year  1609,  bearing 
reference  to  his  books,  has  survived :  "  To  Mr  Holcock,  for 
writing  a  catalogue  of  the  library  which  his  Highness  hade 
of  my  Lord  Lumley,  £8,  135.  od."  This  catalogue  has  un- 
fortunately disappeared. 

Edward  Wright,  the  mathematician,  and  the  learned 
Patrick  Young  were  both  candidates  for  the  post  of  librarian, 
and  Wright  was  appointed  with  a  salary  of  £30  a  year. 

Besides  purchasing  Lord  Lumley's  books,  the  young  prince 
acquired  the  entire  collection  of  the  erudite  Welshman,  William 
Morice,  and  an  unprecedented  stir  and  activity  began  to 
animate  the  affairs  of  the  Royal  library.  Scholars  saw  in 
the  Prince  of  Wales  their  future  stay  and  protector,  and 
looked  forward  to  his  reign  as  to  that  of  the  first  English 

1  Reliquia  Bodleiana,  p.  205. 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  319 

king  in  modern  times,  who  would  not  merely  patronise,  but 
also  extend  learning  by  his  inherent  love  of,  and  zeal  for, 
letters.  But  this  fair  prospect  was  doomed  to  fade,  even  as 
they  were  contemplating  it,  and  the  hope  of  England  died  in 
the  very  midst  of  all  his  literary  labours.  The  books  which 
he  had  collected  were  mainly  incorporated  into  the  Royal 
library,  but  many  were  dispersed  after  his  death.  Scattered 
up  and  down  the  country  may  still  be  seen  volumes  in  private 
collections  bearing  the  tell-tale  conjoined  names,  "Tho. 
Cantuariensis — Arundel — Lumley." 

James  I.,  aptly  styled  by  Henry  IV.  of  France  "  the  wisest 
fool  in  Christendom,"  dabbled  in  books  as  in  most  other  things, 
but  does  not  appear  to  have  succeeded  in  doing  much  harm  to 
his  library  beyond  the  suicidal  carte  blanche  to  Sir  Thomas 
Bodley.  He  appointed  Patrick  Young  to  be  custodian  of  the 
different  sections  of  it  distributed  throughout  the  various  royal 
palaces,  and  this  really  great  scholar  retained  the  post  till  the 
Revolution. 

That  part  of  the  collection  which  was  lodged  at  Richmond 
went  by  the  name  of  Henry  Vllth's  library,  and  was  shown  to 
Johann  Zingerling,  a  German  scholar  who  came  to  England 
while  Patrick  Young  was  librarian.  The  only  MS.  which  he 
singled  out  for  mention  was  the  Genealogia  Regum  Anglia 
ab  Adamo,  a  roll  of  the  fifteenth  century  (14  B  8).  The 
Richmond  collection  was  removed  to  Whitehall  by  Charles 
I.,  and  the  Genealogia  appears  in  a  catalogue  made  after  the 
Restoration. 

The  reign  of  Charles  I.  is  almost  barren  of  events  in  the 
Royal  library,  save  at  the  very  beginning,  for  the  acquisition 
of  one  MS.,  which  may,  however,  be  regarded  as  the  piece  de 
resistance  of  the  whole  collection.  This  was  the  famous  Codex 
Alexandrinus,  one  of  the  three  oldest  MSS.  of  the  whole  Bible 
in  Greek.  Before  describing  this  venerable  codex,  it  will  be 
well  to  relate  what  little  is  known  of  its  history.  In  1624,  Cyril 
Lucar,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  formally  presented  it  t° 


320  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

James  I.,  through  his  ambassador,  Sir  Thomas  Roe.  Writing  to 
Lord  Arundel,  in  December  of  that  year,  Roe  says  :  "  One 
book  he  (the  Patriarch)  hath  given  me  to  present  his  Majestic, 
but  not  yet  delivered,  being  the  Bible  intire,  written  by  the  hand 
of  Tecla,  the  protomartyr  of  the  Greeks,  that  lived  with  St  Paul, 
which  he  doth  aver  it  to  be  authentical,  and  the  greatest  relique 
of  the  Greek  Church."  In  1626,  he  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  :  "  The  Patriarch  also,  this  New  Year's  tide,  sent 
me  the  old  Bible  formerly  presented  to  his  late  Majesty,  which 
he  now  dedicates  to  the  king,  and  will  send  it  with  an  epistle. 
What  estimation  it  may  be  of  is  above  my  skill,  but  he  values 
it  as  the  greatest  antiquity  of  the  Greek  Church.  The  letter  is 
very  fair,  a  character  I  have  never  seen.  It  is  entire,  except  the 
beginning  of  St  Matthew.  He  doth  testify  under  his  hand  that 
it  was  written  by  the  virgin  Tecla,  daughter  of  a  famous  Greek, 
called  Stella  Matutina,  who  founded  the  monastery  in  Egypt, 
upon  Pharaoh's  Tower,  a  devout  and  learned  maid,  who  was 
persecuted  in  Asia,  and  to  whom  Gregory  Nazianzen  hath 
written  many  epistles.  At  the  end  whereof,  under  the  same 
hand,  are  the  epistles  of  Clement.  She  died  not  long  after  the 
Council  of  Nice.  The  book  is  very  great,  and  hath  antiquity 
enough  at  sight ;  I  doubt  not  his  Majesty  will  esteem  it  for  the 
hand  by  whom  it  is  presented." 1 

Sir  Thomas  Roe  certainly  did  not  overestimate  the  value  of 
the  manuscript,  and  it  would  be  extremely  interesting  could  we 
trace  the  evidence  by  which  it  came  to  be  believed  that  it  was 
written  by  the  hand  of  St  Tecla.  A  note  in  Arabic  at  the  foot 
of  the  first  page  of  Genesis  says  that  it  was  "  made  an  inalienable 
gift  to  the  patriarchal  cell  of  Alexandria.  Whoever  shall  re- 
move it  thence  shall  be  accursed  and  cut  off.  Written  by 
Athanasius  the  humble."  z 

1  Negotiations  of  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  London,  1740. 

2  "Probably,"   says   Sir   Edward   Maunde  Thomson,  "Athanasius,  the 
Melchite  Patriarch,  who  was  still  living  in  1308."    Description  of  Ancient 
Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum. 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  321 

Before  his  translation  to  Constantinople,  Cyril  Lucar  had 
been  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and  possibly  he  himself  risked 
the  threatened  curse  and  excommunication  in  taking  the  Bible 
away  with  him,  though  his  deacon  asserted  that  he  had  obtained 
it  from  Mount  Athos. 

But  besides  the  above-mentioned  note  there  is  another  also 
in  Arabic,  with  a  Latin  translation  at  the  back  of  the  table  of 
books.  This  note  says  :  "  Remember  that  this  book  was  written 
by  the  hand  of  Tecla  the  martyr."  The  tradition  is  recalled  by 
Cyril  Lucar  at  the  beginning  of  the  manuscript.  He  states  that 
the  name  of  Tecla  was  originally  to  be  found  inscribed  at  the 
end  of  the  volume,  but  that  when  Christianity  practically  be- 
came extinct  in  Egypt,  the  few  remaining  Christians  and  their 
books  were  doomed,  and  for  this  reason  the  name  was  erased, 
Tecla's  memory  and  the  legend  being  perpetuated  notwith- 
standing. 

Tregelles  accounts  for  the  tradition  that  St  Tecla  was  the 
writer  of  the  MS.  by  the  supposition  that  the  Arabic  note  was 
ignorantly  added  by  some  scribe  who  had  observed  the  name  of 
Tecla  written  in  the  now  mutilated  margin  of  the  first  leaf  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  contains  the  lesson  appointed  by  the 
Greek  Church  for  the  feast  of  St  Tecla.  Sir  Edward  Thompson 
points  out,  however,  that  this  would  infer  that  in  the  fourteenth 
century  the  Gospel  of  St  Matthew  was  in  its  present  mutilated 
state,  and  that  then  as  now,  the  New  Testament  formed  a 
separate  volume  apart  from  the  Old ;  and  he  shows  that  the 
Arabic  numeration  of  the  leaves,  which  is  of  about  the  same  age 
as  the  inscription,  is  carried  continuously  through  both  Testa- 
ments, and  by  a  calculation  of  the  numbers  which  have  not  been 
cut  away  in  trimming  the  edges,  it  appears  that  the  twenty-five 
leaves  which  contained  the  greater  portion  of  St  Matthew  were 
lost  at  a  later  period,  the  last  leaf  of  the  Old  Testament  bearing 
the  number  641,  and  the  present  first  leaf  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment 667. 

Cobet  and  other  experts  fixed  the  date  of  the  two  codices, 


322  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

the  Codex  Sinaiticus  and  the  Codex  Alexandrinus,  as  not  earlier 
than  the  fifth  or  sixth  century,  the  principal  reason  for  assigning 
to  them  so  late  a  date  being  the  generally  accepted  theory  that 
uncials  were  not  in  use  until  vellum  had  entirely  superseded 
papyrus  as  the  medium  for  precious  manuscripts.  But  the 
latest  authority  in  this  department,  Mr  F.  G.  Kenyon,  has  thrown 
light  on  the  whole  question  of  early  Christian  Greek  MSS.,  by 
the  discovery  of  a  large  uncial  round  hand  on  a  papyrus  dated 
Anno  Domini  88.1  Thus  it  is  quite  possible,  palaeographically, 
that  the  Codex  Vaticanus,  which  has  been  hitherto  supposed  to 
date  from  the  fourth  century,  may  be  much  older,  and  there  is 
now  no  conclusive  evidence  to  prove  that  the  Alexandrinus  was 
not  written  by  St  Tecla,  whatever  the  probabilities  may  be  to 
the  contrary. 

The  three  above-named  codices,  the  Vaticanus,  the  Sinaiticus, 
and  the  Alexandrinus  have  certain  points  in  common,  but  the 
MS.  in  the  Royal  library  is  written  in  double  columns,  that  of 
the  Vatican  in  triple  columns,  and  the  Codex  Sinaiticus,  some 
leaves  of  which  are  in  the  public  library  at  Leipzig,  the  main 
body  of  the  work  being  in  the  imperial  library  at  St  Petersburg, 
in  quadruple  columns. 

Besides  being  numerically  imperfect,  the  leaves  of  the  Codex 
Alexandrinus  have  suffered  from  the  clipping  of  the  outer  edges 
by  the  binder,  and  several  of  its  priceless  pages  have  been  other- 
wise spoiled  and  mutilated. 

The  MS.  is  austere  in  its  simplicity,  being  totally  unadorned, 
save  for  the  red  ink  used  in  the  opening  lines  of  each  book,  and 
occasionally  in  superscriptions  and  colophons.  The  letters  are 
uncials  (or  capitals)  without  break,  their  form  proving  that  the 
book  was  written  in  Egypt 

Patrick  Young  was  librarian  when  this  celebrated  codex 
was  added  to  the  Royal  library,  and  duly  conscious  of  its  value, 
he  did  his  utmost  to  get  a  facsimile  of  it  printed.  But  the  king 

1  The  Paleography  of  Greek  Papyri,  Clarendon  Press,  Oxford,  1899. 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  323 

could  not  be  induced  to  take  up  the  matter.  In  1644  Young 
prevailed  on  the  assembly  of  divines  to  present  a  petition  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  praying  "  that  the  said  Bible  may  be 
printed,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church,  the  advancement  of  God's 
glory,  and  the  honour  of  the  kingdom."  A  committee  was  found 
to  confer  with  him  on  the  subject,  but  nothing  was  done,  owing 
to  the  troubled  state  of  the  country. 

During  the  Revolution  and  under  the  commonwealth  the 
Royal  library  was  in  extreme  peril.  Hugh  Peters,  successor 
to  Young,  although  he  belonged  to  the  iconoclastic  faction, 
practically  saved  the  books,  but  was  unable  to  protect  the  unique 
collection  of  medals  and  coins.  After  a  few  months  the  cus- 
todianship was  transferred  to  Ireton,  and  ultimately  a  per- 
manent librarian  was  appointed  in  the  person  of  Bulstrode 
Whitelocke,  first  commissioner  of  the  Great  Seal.  He 
accepted  the  office  from  patriotism  and  reverence  for  the 
antiquities  which  were  in  such  imminent  danger,  but  he  wrote 
deprecatingly : — 

"  I  knew  the  greatness  of  the  charge,  .  .  .  yet  being  informed 
of  a  design  to  have  some  of  them  (the  books)  sold,  and  trans- 
ferred beyond  sea  (which  I  thought  would  be  a  disgrace  and 
damage  to  our  nation,  and  to  all  scholars  therein),  and  fearing 
that  in  other  hands  they  might  be  more  subject  to  embezzling 
...  I  did  accept  the  trouble  of  being  library-keeper  at  St 
James's,  and  therein  was  much  persuaded  by  Mr  Selden, 
who  swore  that  if  I  did  not  undertake  the  charge  of  them, 
all  those  rare  monuments  of  antiquity,  those  choice  books 
and  MSS.  would  be  lost,  and  there  were  not  the  like 
of  them  except  only  in  the  Vatican,  in  any  other  library  in 
Christendom." 

At  the  Restoration,  Thomas  Rosse  was  made  royal  librarian, 
but  his  offices  were  already  so  numerous  that  he  was  unable 
to  bestow  much  attention  on  the  books.  Nevertheless,  he 
revived  the  project  of  printing  the  Alexandrian  MS.,  and 
urged  the  king  to  interest  himself  in  bringing  it  about,  saying 


324  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

that,  although  it  would  cost  £200,  it  would  "  appear  glorious 
in  history  after  your  Majesty's  death."  "  Pish,"  replied  Charles 
II.,  characteristically,  "I  care  not  what  they  say  of  me  in 
history  when  I  am  dead,"  and  there  was  an  end  of  the  matter 
till  our  own  day. 

The  year  1678  is  noteworthy  in  the  annals  of  the  Royal 
library  as  the  period  at  which  it  acquired  the  series  of 
valuable  MSS.  known  as  the  Theyer  collection.  They  had 
been  bought  from  Theyer's  executors  by  Robert  Scott,  a 
famous  bookseller,  who  offered  them  to  the  king  for  £841. 
He  subsequently  got  them  for  £560.  Next  to  the  Alexandrian 
Codex  this  is  the  most  important  addition  to  the  library 
in  comparatively  modern  times.  It  consisted  of  336  volumes, 
including  700  rare  treatises,  a  whole  series  of  Roger  Bacon's 
works,  and  the  celebrated  autograph  collection  formerly 
belonging  to  Cranmer,  and  long  mourned  as  lost  Many  of 
these  manuscripts  could  be  traced  back  to  the  library  of 
Llanthony  Abbey,  having  passed  into  Theyer's  possession  by 
the  marriage  of  one  of  his  ancestors  with  a  sister  of  the  last 
prior  of  Llanthony.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  Theyer  collec- 
tion is  described  in  the  Catalogi  Librorum  Manuscriptorum  of 
1697,  but  without  the  least  hint  that  it  then  formed  part  of 
the  Royal  library.  The  great  Richard  Bentley  was  at  that 
time  librarian,  and  was  responsible  for  the  amazing  omission, 
having  prohibited  any  mention  of  the  Royal  library  in  that 
work,  his  reason  perhaps  being  the  disgraceful  condition  into 
which  the  books  had  fallen.  Bentley  was  by  far  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  royal  librarians  during  any  part  of  its 
history,  and  he  would,  no  doubt,  have  accomplished  wonders 
if  he  had  not  been  so  outrageous  a  pluralist,  so  busy  a 
scholar,  and  so  pugnacious  a  litigant  Not  only  was  he 
Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  Regius  Professor  of 
Divinity,  Rector  of  Haddington,  Rector  of  Wilburn,  and 
Archdeacon  of  Ely,  but  he  was  immersed  in  numberless  law- 
suits, and  in  classical  studies  which  would  alone  have  sufficed 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  325 

to  fill  the  whole  life  of  an  ordinary  man.  What  he,  in 
spite  of  these  multifarous  occupations,  attempted  to  do 
for  the  Royal  library  at  least  testifies  to  the  grandeur 
of  his  conceptions  and  the  boldness  of  his  schemes. 
His  failure  to  place  the  library  within  the  reach  of 
students  was  as  much  due  to  the  stultifying  effects  of  red- 
tapeism  as  to  the  disorganised  condition  of  the  library 
itself. 

Bentley's  first  care  on  taking  office  was  to  enforce  the 
Copyright  Act,  which,  although  passed  in  1663,  had  been 
carelessly  ignored.  By  this  means  about  1000  printed  books 
were  added  to  the  collection,  but  no  bindings  were  provided, 
or  shelves  on  which  to  put  them.  In  a  famous  controversy 
with  Charles  Boyle,  who  complained  that  difficulties  were 
placed  in  the  way  of  his  access  to  one  of  the  royal  manuscripts, 
Bentley  answered :  "  I  will  own  that  I  have  often  said  and 
lamented  that  the  library  was  not  fit  to  be  seen,"  and  pro- 
ceeding to  exulpate  himself,  he  added  :  "  If  the  room  be  too 
mean,  and  too  little  for  the  books ;  if  it  be  much  out  of 
repair;  if  the  situation  be  inconvenient;  if  the  access  to 
it  •  be  dishonourable,  is  the  library  -  keeper  to  answer 
for  it?" 

A  proposal  was  made,  during  Bentley's  tenure  of  office, 
to  erect  a  suitable  building  for  the  books,  establishing  it  by 
Act  of  Parliament.  But  nothing  was  done,  and  in  the  course 
of  nineteen  years  the  collection  was  four  times  removed.  In 
1712  it  migrated  from  the  much  abused  quarters  at  St 
James's  to  Cotton  House,  and  from  thence  to  Essex  House 
in  1722.  It  was  next  lodged,  together  with  the  Cottonian 
library  at  Ashburnham  House,  and  after  the  disastrous 
fire  in  1731,  from  which  the  Cotton  MSS.  suffered  so  severely, 
it  gained  with  them  a  temporary  refuge  in  the  old  Westminster 
dormitory. 

Bentley  resigned  his  office  of  librarian  in  1724,  in  favour 
of  his  son,  another  Richard  Bentley ;  but  Casley,  who,  as 


326  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

deputy  custodian,  had  been  for  many  years  the  only  working 
librarian,  continued  to  fill  that  post. 

In  1757,  George  II.  presented  the  Royal  library  to  the 
nation,  handing  it  over  by  Letters  Patent  to  the  custody  of 
the  trustees  of  the  British  Museum,  and  thus  its  hitherto 
chequered  career  was  turned  into  prosperous  channels.  All 
that  is  henceforth  left  to  desire  is  a  descriptive  catalogue 
worthy  of  its  unique  contents.1 

The  Greek  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum  are  not  very 
numerous,  but  are  widely  renowned.  Of  those  in  the  Royal 
library  the  Codex  Alexandrinus  is  by  far  the  most  interesting, 
not  only  as  being  the  one  Greek  MS.  of  the  whole  Bible  in 
the  library,  but  also  as  surpassing  all  the  other  existing  Greek 
fragments  of  the  Scriptures  in  point  of  antiquity.  The  next 
earliest  MS.,  containing  the  Books  of  Ruth,  Kings,  Esdras, 
Esther,  and  the  Maccabees  (i  D  2),  is  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  The  Books  of  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song 
of  Solomon  (i  A  15),  are  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Nearest 
in  antiquity  to  the  Alexandrian  Bible  in  the  British  Museum 
is  the  Cotton  MS.  (Titus,  C  15),  the  Codex  Clarmontanus, 
a  purple-dyed  fragment  of  the  sixth  century,  written  on  vellum 
of  so  subtle  and  delicate  a  texture  that  even  experts  have 
sometimes  mistaken  it  for  Egyptian  papyrus. 

A  few  words  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  respecting  the 
writing  materials  of  the  ancients,  and  their  custom  of  staining 
leaves  of  vellum.  Skins  of  animals  were  probably  one  of  the 
most  ancient  mediums,  as  being  the  most  durable.  There 
exists  in  the  British  Museum  a  ritual,  written  on  white  leather, 
which  dates  from  about  the  year  2000  B.C.  But  the  custom 
of  writing  on  leather  is  known  to  have  been  much  older 


1  The  Royal  Library  must  not  be  confused  with  the  King's  Library  belong- 
ing to  George  III.,  and  presented  to  the  British  Museum  by  George  IV. 
The  King's  Library  included,  however,  a  few  important  MSS.  which  had 
been?retained  by  George  II.  when  he  made  over  the  Royal  collection  to 
the  nation. 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  327 

still.  The  commonest  mode  of  keeping  records  in  Assyria  and 
Babylonia  was  on  prepared  bricks,  tiles,  or  cylinders  of  clay, 
baked  after  the  inscription  had  been  impressed  on  them.  But 
a  wood-cut  of  an  ancient  sculpture  from  Konyungik l  illustrates 
scribes  in  the  act  of  writing  down  the  number  of  heads  and  the 
amount  of  spoil  taken  in  battle,  on  rolls  of  leather,  which  the 
Egyptians  used  as  early  as  the  eighteenth  dynasty.  At  the 
close  of  the  commercial  intercourse  between  Assyria  and  Egypt, 
rolls  of  leather  may  have  been  the  only  material  employed  for 
writing  on.  Parchment,  so  prepared  that  both  sides  could  be 
used,  was  doubtless  the  development  of  this  custom,  but  was 
a  much  later  invention.  Together  with  the  use  of  the  rough 
skins,  and  of  the  more  or  less  carefully  prepared  surfaces  of 
the  leather,  papyrus  became  one  of  the  most  frequent  vehicles 
for  written  words,  and  was  used  for  some  time  after  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  Leaves  of  palm  or  mallow 
led  up  to  the  first  forms  of  papyrus  used — hence,  perhaps,  the 
word  leaf  of  a  book.  Bark  was  next  pressed  into  the  service 
of  literature  and,  it  has  often  been  suggested,  possibly  gave 
rise  to  the  word  book,  although  it  seems  more  likely  that 
book  was  of  runic  origin  and  derived  from  the  beech-staves — 
Buch-staben,  on  which  the  runes  were  expressed. 

Eventually  vellum  entirely  took  the  place  of  papyrus,  but 
papyrus  was  used  not  only  in  Egypt,  but  in  imperial  Rome 
before  vellum  became  common,  and  even  biblical  manuscripts 
were  written  on  rolls  of  this  material.  It  was,  however,  too  fragile 
and  perishable  to  remain  the  receptacle  of  writing  and  illumina- 
tion intended  to  last  for  all  time,  and  therefore,  by  the  middle 
of  the  tenth  century  A.D.  it  was  altogether  discarded.  Only  a 
few  tattered  fragments  of  the  New  Testament  written  on 
papyrus  are  still  extant. 

The  oldest  manuscripts  belonging  to  the  Christian  era 
were  written  on  the  thinnest  and  whitest  vellum.  The  parch- 

1  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  by  Sir  Henry  Layard,  ii.,  185. 


328  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

ment  of  later  times  is  more  coarsely  grained,  and  less  well 
finished,  manuscripts  a  thousand  and  more  years  old  showing 
no  signs  of  decay  or  discoloration,  unlike  many  which  date 
from  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  Scrivener,  basing 
his  authority  on  Tischendorf,  observes  that  the  Codex  Sinaiticus 
is  made  of  the  finest  skins  of  antelopes,  the  leaves  being  so 
large  that  a  single  animal  could  furnish  but  two  of  them. 
The  Codex  Vaticanus  is  greatly  admired  for  the  beauty  of 
the  vellum ;  and  the  whiteness  of  the  Codex  Alexandrinus 
can  be  seen  by  all  who  visit  the  British  Museum,  although  the 
exquisite  thinness,  softness,  and  delicacy  of  the  texture  can 
only  be  appreciated  by  touching  it.  The  beautiful  fabric  of 
the  Codex  Clarmontanus  has  already  been  mentioned. 

But  not  only  was  the  vellum  finer  and  more  durable  in 
the  earliest  days  of  our  era  than  at  a  comparatively  recent 
date,  but  the  ink  was  better,  and  the  colours  used  in  illuminat- 
ing were  far  more  beautiful.  The  ancients  laid  on  the  gold 
very  thickly,  and  the  ink  which  they  prepared  is  still  black, 
so  that  the  text  can  be  easily  read,  while  the  ink  used  in  the 
Middle  Ages  is  now  generally  of  a  greyish  brown.  Red  ink 
is  very  ancient,  and  often  seen  in  early  Egyptian  papyri.  The 
instrument  for  writing  on  papyrus  was  the  reed  growing  in 
the  marshes  formed  by  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  and  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile.  It  was  also  used  for  writing  on  vellum, 
but  quills,  admirably  adapted  for  this  kind  of  material,  came 
gradually  into  use  with  parchment  By  degrees  the  roll  form 
was  abandoned  for  the  codex  or  book  form,  as  being  more 
convenient,  the  leaves  being  stitched  into  gatherings  or  quires ; 
but  for  a  long  time  both  forms  were  used  together. 

It  is  uncertain  when  the  custom  of  staining  the  most 
precious  MSS.  purple  came  into  vogue,  but  it  did  not  obtain 
after  the  tenth  century.  St  Jerome  and  his  contemporaries 
practised  it,  using  letters  stamped  rather  than  written,  in 
silver  and  gold.  Writing  in  gold  ceased  to  be  common  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  in  silver  when  the  fashion  of 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  329 

staining  the  vellum  died  out  The  value  of  a  manuscript  does 
not  depend  on  its  purple  colour,  but  this  is  chiefly  interesting 
as  serving  to  show  one  phase  of  the  reverence  paid  to  the 
Scriptures.  It  may  also  help  to  fix  the  date  of  a  MS.1 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  early  palaeographic 
art  in  the  Royal  library  is  the  Latin  MS.  of  the  gospels, 
known  as  the  Evangelia  of  King  Canute  (i  Dp).  Westwood 
indeed  considers  that  it  will  not  bear  comparison  with  the 
Gospels  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  though  he  admits 
that  it  exceeds  them  in  interest  owing  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 
entries  relating  to  Canute  at  the  beginning  of  St  Mark's 
Gospel.2  Wanley  has  described  these  entries  as  a  certificate 
or  testimonial  of  Canute's  reception  into  the  family  or  society 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Canterbury.  One  leaf  bears  this 
inscription :  "  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Here 
is  written  Canute  the  King's  name.  He  is  our  beloved  Lord 
worldwards,  and  our  spiritual  brother  Godwards ;  and  Harold, 
this  King's  brother ;  Thorth,  our  brother  ;  Kartoca,  our  brother  ; 
Thuri,  our  brother."  On  the  next  leaf  is  a  charter  by  the 
same  king,  confirming  the  privileges  of  Christ  Church,  Canter- 
bury. The  book  was  probably  the  gift  of  Canute  to  the 
monks  of  that  house.  There  are  no  miniatures,  but  an 
illuminated  page  with  a  grand  border,  heavily  gilt,  contains 
small  figures  of  the  evangelists  in  medallions.  Written  in  ink 
at  the  bottom  of  the  illuminated  page  is  the  name  Lumley, 
showing  that  the  MS.  formed  part  of  that  collection  acquired 
by  Prince  Henry. 

The  Gospels  of  St  Augustine's  Abbey,  Canterbury  (i  E  6), 
written  in  England  in  the  eighth  century,  are  probably  the 
remains  of  the  so-called  Biblia  Gregoriana.  But  if  this  codex 
was  really  among  the  books  sent  by  Pope  Gregory  to  St 

1  Scrivener,  A  plain  Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament, 
P-23- 

2  Facsimiles  of  the    Miniatures  and  Ornaments  of  Anglo-Saxon    and, 
Irish  AfSS, 


330  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Augustine,  it  must  first  have  been  sent  to  Rome  from  England, 
but  internal  evidence  points  to  a  much  later  date.  It  contains 
four  very  dark-purple  or  rather  rose-coloured  stained  leaves, 
with  inscriptions  in  letters  of  gold  and  silver  an  inch  long,  the 
silver  being  oxidised  by  age.  It  is  one  of  the  most  precious 
examples  of  Anglo-Saxon  caligraphy  and  illumination  now 
existing.  The  half-uncial  letters  of  English  type  are  by 
different  hands,  and  the  miniatures  are  of  different  dates,  that 
of  the  Lion  of  St  Mark  being  probably  of  the  tenth  century. 
It  is  also  supposed  that  the  missing  verses  at  the  beginning  of 
the  gospels  were  all  written  on  purple-stained  vellum,  and  that 
there  may  have  been  a  miniature  of  the  evangelist  before 
each  gospel.  An  inscription  on  the  fly-leaf  states  that  it 
belonged  to  the  monastery  of  St  Augustine  at  Canterbury, 
and  that  it  formed  part  of  that  library  in  the  fourteenth 
century. 

The  fine  manuscript,  designated  2  A  20,  is  a  book  of 
prayers  and  lessons  on  vellum,  of  the  eighth  century.  It 
belonged  to  the  Theyer  collection,  and  several  notes  are  inserted 
in  the  handwriting  of  John  Theyer.  It  is  very  much  stained 
and  spoiled,  the  binder,  as  was  so  often  the  piteous  case,  having 
barbarously  cut  off  some  of  the  edges,  and  with  them  a 
portion  of  the  marginal  writing,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the 
book. 

2  A  22  is  a  magnificent  Latin  Psalter  of  the  twelfth  century, 
the  best  period  of  penmanship.  Sir  Edward  Thompson  draws 
attention  to  the  fact  that  this  volume  originated  at  Westminster, 
as  may  be  inferred  by  the  prominence  given  in  the  calendars 
and  prayers  to  St  Peter  and  St  Edward,  even  without  its 
identification  with  an  entry  in  the  Abbey  Inventory.1  A 
further  proof  of  this  is  furnished  by  the  miniatures  of  the  two 
saints,  one  of  which  begins  the  series ;  the  other  leads  up  to 
the  beautiful  Salvator  Mundi.  Between  are  St  George  and 

1  English  Illuminated  MS S.,  pp.  34,  35, 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  331 

St  Christopher.  Instead  of  being  dispersed  throughout  the 
book,  the  illustrations  are  all  at  the  beginning  and  end, 
indicating  by  the  colourless  faces,  and  by  what  for  want  of 
a  better  word  may  be  styled  their  Gothic  outlines,  that  they  are 
of  English  origin.  Some  of  the  capital  letters  are  very 
interesting.  One  of  these  quaintly  represents  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  enthroned  in  glory,  on  a  gold  background.  His  hand 
is  raised  in  blessing,  while  a  Benedictine  monk,  floating  on  the 
wings  of  prayer,  clasps  a  scroll,  one  end  of  which  disappears 
under  the  rainbow-hued  throne.  On  the  scroll  are  the  words 
Domine,  exandi  orationem  meant.  At  the  end  of  the  Psalter 
are  Litanies  and  other  prayers. 

The  broad  manner  in  which  these  illuminations  are  treated, 
with  foliage  boldly  designed,  and  animals  of  various  kinds 
disporting  themselves  among  the  branches,  is  indicative  of  the 
period.  There  is  a  striking  contrast  between  this  large,  bold 
treatment  and  the  minute  style  of  the  next  century,  although 
the  period  of  transition  occupied  but  a  few  years.  The  change 
began  with  the  development  of  the  initial  letter,  which  was  the 
starting-point  of  the  border  and  of  the  miniature. 

The  Royal  MS.  I  D  I,  a  Latin  Bible  of  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  forms  an  excellent  example  of  this  develop- 
ment. It  is  written  on  fine  vellum,  and  in  a  perfect  style  of  cali- 
graphy.  The  paintings  are  few  if  we  except  those  connected  with 
the  initial  letter,  which  serves  admirably  to  illustrate  the  growth 
of  the  border  from  its  pendants,  cusps,  and  graceful  finials,  show- 
ing how  the  initial  and  miniature  came  to  be  combined.  Writing 
about  this  same  MS.  Sir  Edward  Thompson  says :  "In  the 
large  initial  we  see  the  combination  of  the  miniature  with  the 
initial  and  partial  border,  a  combination  which  is  typical  of 
book  decoration  of  the  thirteenth  century.  In  MSS.  of  earlier 
periods  the  miniature  was  a  painting  which  usually  occupied  a 
page,  independently  of  the  text  ...  or  if  inserted  in  the  text 
it  was  not  connected  with  the  decoration  of  the  page.  It  was, 
in  fact,  an  illustration  and  nothing  more.  But  now,  while  the 


332  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

miniature  is  still  employed  in  this  manner,  independently  of 
the  text,  the  miniature  initial  also  comes  into  common  use,  the 
miniature  therein,  however,  continuing  to  hold  for  some  time  a 
subordinate  place,  as  a  decoration  rather  than  as  an  illustrative 
feature.  In  course  of  time,  with  the  growth  of  the  border, 
the  two-fold  function  of  the  miniature,  as  a  means  of  illustration 
and  also  of  decoration,  is  satisfied  by  allowing  it  to  occupy  part 
or  even  the  whole  of  a  page  as  an  independent  picture,  but  at 
the  same  time,  set  in  the  border,  which  has  developed  from  the 
pendent  of  the  initial.  This  development  of  the  border  it  is 
extremely  interesting  to  follow,  and  so  regular  is  its  growth, 
and  so  remarkable  are  the  national  characteristics  which  it 
assumes,  that  the  period  and  place  of  origin  of  an  illuminated 
MS.  may  often  be  accurately  determined  from  the  details  of 
its  border  alone." l 

The  distinguished  writer  goes  on  to  show  that  in  tracing  this 
development  one  sees  how  the  initials  first  terminate  in  simple 
buds  or  cusps,  and  how,  in  the  next  stage,  characteristic  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  they  put  out  little  branches,  the  buds 
growing  into  leaves  and  flowers,  and  how  thus  gradually  the 
border  comes  to  surround  the  whole  page. 

The  Royal  MS.  263,  commonly  known  as  Queen  Mary's 
Psalter,  is  a  good  specimen  of  fourteenth  century  art.  This  is 
a  large  octavo  volume  of  320  leaves  of  vellum,  almost  everyone 
being  magnificently  illuminated  on  both  sides,  with  daintily 
executed  drawings,  lightly  sketched,  and  slightly  tinted  in  green, 
brown,  and  violet.  One  richly-decorated  page  represents  the 
Last  Judgement.  At  the  top,  a  miniature  within  the  border 
shows  forth  the  Judge  of  all  mankind.  Angels  with  green- 
tipped  wings  hover  on  either  side.  Before  the  Saviour  as 
Judge  kneel  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St  John,  and  on  the  other  side 
is  a  group  of  monks.  The  background  is  of  pure  gold.  Under- 
neath, enclosed  in  a  blue  and  white  border,  the  dead  rise  to 

1  English  Illuminated  MSS.,  p.  37. 


THE  ROYAL  LIBRARY  333 

judgment  Angels  blow  long  trumpets  and  the  graves  open. 
Below  this  again  is  a  lovely  initial,  with  more  figures  on  a  gold 
background.  The  letter  begins  the  words  of  the  Litany  Kyrie 
eleison.  A  drawing  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  represents  Saul 
receiving  the  letter  to  Damascus  for  the  persecution  of  the 
Christians.  This  page,  as  elaborate  and  glowing  with  colour  as 
it  is  rich  in  design  and  fine  in  execution,  is,  however,  not  more 
striking  than  many  others  in  the  same  manuscript,  which  may, 
without  too  much  praise,  be  described  as  a  gem  of  palaeographic 
art.  A  note  on  the  last  leaf  explains  that  the  MS.  was  on  the 
point  of  being  carried  beyond  seas,  when  a  customs  officer,  one 
Baldwin  Smith,  in  the  port  of  London  seized  and  presented 
it  to  the  Queen,  in  October  1553,  the  first  year  of  her 
reign. 

The  writer  does  not  record  whether  the  hapless  owner  was 
indemnified  for  his  loss.  It  was  probably  Queen  Mary  herself 
who  caused  the  book  to  be  bound  as  we  now  see  it,  in  the  worn 
crimson  velvet  binding,  with  the  remains  of  large  pomegranates 
embroidered  at  each  corner,  pomegranates  being  her  own 
badge. 

The  MS.  2  B  7  is  an  extremely  beautiful  piece  of  workman- 
ship of  the  fourteenth  century.  Its  delicate  outline  drawings, 
mostly  in  mauve  and  green,  are  reminiscent  of  the  Guthlac  roll. 
They  represent  mainly  an  illustrated  Martyrology  of  Saints, 
popular  in  England,  i  A  18  is  the  copy  of  the  Latin  Gospels 
presented  to  Christ  Church,  Canterbury,  by  King  Athelstan, 
with  the  name  Lumley  on  the  first  page  of  the  Eusebian 
canons,  and  Umfridus  me  fecit  on  a  fly-leaf. 

The  beautiful  French  version  of  the  Apocalypse,  written  in 
England  about  1330  (19  B  15),  contains  drawings  of  great 
refinement,  though  scarcely  to  be  compared  with  those  which 
adorn  Queen  Mary's  Psalter. 

The  very  large  Bible  of  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century 
measuring  twenty-four  by  seventeen  inches,  is  splendidly  illumi- 
nated and  profusely  adorned  with  miniatures. 


334  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

But  choice  and  variety  are  infinite,  and  to  the  devout  lover 
of  these  things,  the  Royal  library  resembles  a  gold-mine  with 
nuggets  of  immense  value  lying  in  profusion  wherever  his 
adventurous  footsteps  lead  him.  If  his  object  be  delight  he  will 
find  that  every  step  leads  him  there. 


VI 

THE    HARLEIAN    COLLECTION    OF 
MANUSCRIPTS 

WHEN  Robert  Harley  laid  the  foundation  of  his  magnificent 
library  in  1705,  so  many  collectors  were  already  in  the  field 
that  the  prospect  of  getting  together  any  large  number  of 
choice  manuscripts  did  not  seem  promising.  But  contrary  to 
expectation,  this  very  fact  proved  fortunate,  for  whereas  Cotton 
had  built  up  his  library,  book  by  book,  laboriously,  Harley  had 
the  advantage  of  forming  his,  to  a  great  extent,  by  the  purchase 
of  other  well-known  collections,  either  at  the  death  of  their 
original  owners,  or  after  the  manuscripts  had  passed  through  suc- 
cessive hands.  Of  these  larger  acquisitions  may  be  mentioned  : 
the  library  which  had  belonged  to  the  famous  antiquary,  Sir 
Symonds  D'Ewes,  Cotton's  friend  ;  the  greater  number  of  the 
Graevius  MSS. ;  the  23  bulky  volumes  of  the  Baker  collec- 
tion ;  many  of  the  papers  originally  belonging  to  Nicholas 
Charles,  Lancaster  Herald,  which,  at  his  death,  Camden  had 
purchased  for  £90,  and  the  collection  of  Stow,  the  historian  of 
London. 

Charles's  library  consisted  chiefly  of  epitaphs,  drawings  of 
monuments  and  arms,  and  an  historical  catalogue  of  the  officers 
of  the  College  of  Arms.  Some  of  these  are  now  at  the  Herald's 
College,  one  of  the  manuscripts  is  in  the  Lansdowne  collection, 
and  the  others  were  bought  by  Harley. 

335 


336  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

On  Strype's  death  in  1737,  the  majority  of  the  papers, 
collected  by  Foxe  the  martyrologist,  which  had  been  in  the 
annalist's  possession,  also  passed  with  others  into  Harley's 
hands ;  they  form  vols.  416  to  428,  and  vol.  59x5  of  this  collection. 
Some  of  Foxe's  papers  are  in  the  Lansdowne  library. 

By  means  of  great  exertion  and  a  lavish  expenditure,  Harley 
became  within  ten  years  the  possessor  of  about  2500  old  MSS., 
and  in  1721  had  collected  6000  volumes,  1400  charters,  and  500 
rolls,  besides  about  350,000  pamphlets.  His  entire  library  after- 
wards numbered  over  20,000  volumes. 

Robert  Harley,  afterwards  Earl  of  Oxford,  was  descended 
from  an  ancient  family,  existing,  it  is  pretended,  in  Shropshire 
at  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  and  closely  allied  to  the 
French  family  of  de  Harlai.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Sir 
Edward  Harley,  member  for  the  county  of  Hereford,  in  the 
Parliament  which  restored  Charles  II. ;  was  born  in  1661,  rose  to 
a  high  position  in  public  affairs,  and  was  created,  by  Queen 
Anne,  a  peer  of  the  realm  by  the  style  and  title  of  Baron 
Wigmore,  in  the  county  of  Hereford,  Earl  of  Oxford,  and 
Mortimer.1  Soon  afterwards  he  was  made  Lord  High  Treasurer 
of  Great  Britain,  and  Prime  Minister.  He  was  twice  married — 
first  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Foley  of  Whitley  Court, 
Worcestershire,  by  whom  he  had  three  children — a  son,  Edward, 
who  succeeded  him,  and  two  daughters.  His  second  wife  was 
Sarah,  daughter  of  Simon  Middleton,  of  Hurst  Hill,  Edmonton, 
who  survived  him  some  years. 

Swift  drew  attention  to  the  circumstance  that  Robert  Harley 
was  educated  at  Shilton,  a  private  school  in  Oxfordshire,  re- 
markable for  having  produced  at  the  same  time  a  Lord  High 
Treasurer  (the  Earl  of  Oxford),  a  Lord  High  Chancellor  (Lord 
Harcourt),  a  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas  (Lord 

1  The  Earldom  of  Mortimer  was  added,  because,  although  Aubrey  de 
Vere,  twentieth  Earl  of  Oxford  had  died  without  leaving  male  issue  in  1702, 
it  was  necessary  to  guard  against  possible  claimants  among  remote 
descendants  of  the  de  Veres. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     337 

Trevor),  and  ten  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  who  were 
all  contemporaries  as  well  at  school  as  in  Parliament.  From 
both  his  father  and  grandfather  he  had  inherited  a  taste  for 
books,  and  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  had  taken 
considerable  part  in  organising  the  Cottonian  library  when  it 
was  bequeathed  to  the  nation.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  his 
notice  was  first  drawn  to  Humphrey  Wanley,  who  offered  some 
valuable  hints  in  regard  to  the  arrangement  of  the  Cotton 
manuscripts,  and  subsequently  proved  himself  to  be  the  model 
of  librarians. 

Humphrey  Wanley  was  the  son  of  a  country  parson;  he 
had  received  a  university  education,  and  had  already  achieved 
success  and  some  fame  as  a  scholar  by  his  catalogue  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  MSS.,  preserved  in  the  principal  libraries  of  Great 
Britain.  He  would  gladly  have  undertaken  the  custody  of  the 
Cotton  library  vice  Dr  Smith,  and  wrote  to  Robert  Nelson,  a 
learned  writer  and  philanthrophist,  who  apparently  possessed 
some  influence  with  the  government,  to  solicit  his  good  offices 
in  procuring  him  that  post.  Nelson's  answer,  interpolated  by 
a  remark  in  Wanley's  beautiful,  scholarly  hand,  is  interesting  as 
an  illustration  of  the  rivalry  that  existed  between  the  two  fore- 
most librarians  of  the  day. 

"  Were  I  as  able  to  advise  Mr  Wanley  as  I  am  desirous  to 
offer  what  might  be  most  advantageous  for  his  interest,"  wrote 
Nelson,  "  I  should  immediately  have  answered  your  last 
letter  which  requires  some  queries  to  be  resolved  before  I 
can  well  determine  how  you  ought  to  proceed.  For  if 
there  is  any  friendship  between  you  and  the  Dr  [Smith]  it 
will  give  a  different  aspect  to  your  endeavours  to  supplant 
him." 

Here  there  is  a  mark  in  the  original  letter  referring  to  a 
note  written  across  the  margin  by  Wanley  as  follows  : — 

"  This  is  about  the  Cottonian  Library,  the  custody  whereof 
I  did  then,  and  many  years  after,  most  ardently  desire.  As  to 
friendship  between  Dr  Thomas  Smith  [here  meant]  and  me 


338  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

there  was  but  little,  his  conversation  being  not  suitable  to  mine, 
by  reason  of  his  jealousies  and  peevishness  extreme.  I  always 
allowed  the  Doctor's  pretensions  to  be  much  better  grounded 
than  mine  ;  but  if  he,  being  a  non-juror,  could  not  swear  to  the 
Queen's  government,  or  being  much  in  years  should  happen  to 
decease,  as  he  did  after  some  time,  I  desired  that  employment 
when  the  trustees  should  please  to  regulate  that  noble  collec- 
tion. 

"  Otherwise,"  continues  Nelson,  "  I  can  see  no  reason  why  a 
man  that  is  qualified  for  an  employment  may  not  fairly  offer 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  it,  without  injury  to  others  that  may 
pretend  to  it,  and  if  you  should  want  success,  it  no  way 
diminishes  those  qualifications  you  were  endowed  with,  for  the 
discharge  of  the  employment.  If  the  Sir  Robert  Cotton  you 
mention  be  of  the  Post  Office,  I  believe  I  can  find  a  way  of 
applying  to  him, — I  am  your  faithful  friend  and  servant, 

"  NELSON. 

"2nd  October  1702." 

Wanley's  ardent  desire  was  not  destined  to  be  satisfied,  but 
a  still  more  honourable  position  was  in  store  for  the  distinguished 
scholar  and  man  of  letters,  for  he  not  only  became  ultimately 
custodian  of  the  Harleian  manuscripts,  but  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  he  deserved  by  his  zeal,  learning,  and  discrimination  to  be 
considered  together  with  Lord  Oxford,  the  joint-founder  of  the 
Harleian  library. 

Thus,  it  was  entirely  owing  to  Wanley  that  the  D'Ewes 
collection,  purchased  for  £6000,  was  secured  by  Sir  Robert 
Harley,  and  it  formed  the  basis  of  what  is  now  one  of 
our  greatest  national  collections  of  manuscripts.  The  acqui- 
sition of  this  celebrated  library  was  the  determining  point 
in  Wanley's  career  and  in  that  of  the  Harleian  library 
itself. 

Sir  Symonds  D'Ewes,  the  antiquary,  had  by  his  will  left  all 
his  books  and  manuscripts  to  his  grandson,  another  Sir 
Symonds,  but  without  antiquarian  or  literary  tastes.  Wanley, 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     339 

having  discovered  that  although,  according  to  the  antiquary's 
will,  his  collection  might  not  be  dispersed,  it  might  still  possibly 
be  bought,  wrote  to  Harley  and  suggested  that  he  should  be  the 
purchaser : — 

"  Sir  Symonds  D'Ewes,  being  pleased  to  honour  me  with  a 
peculiar  kindness  of  esteem,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  inquiring 
of  him  whether  he  will  part  with  his  library  ;  and  I  find  that  he 
is  not  unwilling  to  do  so,  and  that  at  a  much  easier  rate  than  I 
could  think  for.  I  dare  say  that  it  would  be  a  noble  addition  to 
the  Cotton  Library  ;  perhaps  the  best  that  could  be  had  any- 
where at  present.  ...  If  your  Honour  should  judge  it  im- 
practicable to  persuade  Her  Majesty  to  buy  them  for  the  Cotton 
Library — in  whose  coffers  such  a  sum  as  will  buy  them  is 
scarcely  conceivable — then  Sir,  if  you  have  a  mind  of  them 
yourself,  I  will  take  care  that  you  shall  have  them  cheaper  than 
any  other  person  whatsoever.  I  know  that  many  have  their 
eyes  on  this  collection.  I  am  desirous  to  have  this  collec- 
tion in  town  for  the  public  good,  and  rather  in  a  public 
place  than  in  private  hands,  but  of  all  private  gentlemen's 
studies  first  in  yours.  I  have  not  spoken  to  anybody  as  yet, 
nor  will  not  till  I  have  your  answer,  that  you  may  not  be 
forestalled." 

The  D'Ewes  collection  was  a  curiously  miscellaneous  one, 
containing  much  trivial  matter  side  by  side  with  learned 
treatises,  transcripts  of  important  cartularies,  monastic  registers, 
public  and  private  muniments  of  the  most  varied  description. 
A  list  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  the  Harleian  MS.  775.  No 
subject  seems  to  have  been  void  of  interest  for  the  great 
antiquary :  he  treasured  up  his  school  exercises  as  carefully  as 
he  did  any  ancient  Greek  or  Roman  charter,  or  mediaeval 
palaeographic  gem. 

With  the  purchase  of  this  rich  medley  of  books  begins 
Wanley's  term  of  office  as  librarian  to  Lord  Oxford,  which  con- 
tinued till  his  death  in  1726.  By  his  knowledge  and  literary 
acumen  the  librarian  supplied  what  was  lacking  in  his  patron,  for 


340  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

like  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  Harley,  despite  his  love  of  books,  was  by 
no  means  a  scholar  or  man  of  letters.  Even  the  insignificant 
pamphlets,  once  ascribed  to  his  pen,  have  since  been  proved  to 
be  the  work  of  others.  His  verses,  some  of  which  were 
printed  in  the  sixteenth  volume  of  Swift's  works,  were  con- 
demned by  Macaulay  as  being  "more  execrable  than  the 
bellman's."  But  with  Wanley  at  his  side  he  surpassed  even 
Cotton  as  a  collector,  for  the  librarian  possessed  an  intimate 
acquaintanceship  with  the  contents  of  every  foreign  library  of 
note,  and  Harley  was  always  ready  to  spend  in  princely 
fashion  whenever  Wanley  considered  that  a  manuscript  was 
worth  buying.  On  the  sumptuous  bindings  with  which  he 
adorned  these  acquisitions  he  expended  as  much  as  .£18,000. 
His  principal  binders  were  Thomas  Elliott  and  Christopher 
Chapman,  of  Duck  Lane,  who  called  forth  some  severe 
remarks  in  Wanley's  Diary,  on  the  subject  of  their  negligence 
and  extravagant  prices.  On  inspecting  Mr  Elliott's  bill  he 
finds  him  "exceeding  dear  in  all  the  works  of  Morocco, 
Turkey,  and  Russia  leather,  besides  those  of  velvet,"  and  he  is 
constantly  reprimanding  both  book-binders  for  their  "negli- 
gence in  executing  my  Lord's  work." 

Perhaps  the  best-merited  praise  that  has  ever  been 
bestowed  on  the  founder  of  this  celebrated  library  is 
Macaulay's  tribute  to  his  "  sincere  kindness  for  men  of  genius." 
And,  however  much  the  first  Earl  of  Oxford  may  have 
transgressed  politically  (he  is  accused  of  having  been 
unscrupulous,  weak,  and  incapable  as  a  minister),  his  services 
to  literature  in  the  protection  which  he  accorded  to  the  learned, 
have  won  for  him  a  high  place  in  the  estimation  of  his 
countrymen.  Even  as  a  politician  he  acquired  some  literary 
fame,  as  being  the  first  minister  who  employed  the  Press  for 
ministerial  purposes ;  and  it  redounds  to  his  honour  that, 
amid  the  cares  and  passions  of  public  life,  and  aims  more 
or  less  worthy  of  a  statesman,  he  occupied  his  scanty 
leisure  with  the  altogether  laudable  endeavour  to  gather 


together  under  his  own  roof  for  the  benefit  of  students  and 
scholars  as  much  as  possible  of  the  lore  and  erudition  of  past 
ages. 

The  correspondence  between  Harley  and  Defoe,  pre- 
served at  Welbeck  Abbey,  and  now  published  by  the 
Historical  MSS.  Commission,  reveals  the  intimate  relations 
which  existed  for  public  purposes  between  these  two  remarkable 
men. 

Of  Edward,  second  Earl  of  Oxford,  much  praise  and  very 
little  blame  have  been  recorded.  He  has  been  quaintly 
described  as  "  indeed  rich  but  thankful,  charitable  without 
ostentation,  and  that  in  so  good-natured  a  way  as  never  to 
give  pain  to  the  person  whom  he  obliged  in  that  respect." 
He  was,  in  truth,  indolent  and  extravagant,  faults  which  did 
not,  however,  detract  from  his  popularity.  He  was  the  prey 
of  adventurers,  and  the  providence  of  impecunious  poets  such 
as  Pope  and  Swift.  All  the  literati  of  the  day  were  allowed 
access  to  his  library.  Oldys  drew  therefrom  the  materials  for 
his  Life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  ;  Joseph  Ames  and  Samuel  Palmer 
had  recourse  to  it  in  their  black-letter  studies.  Pope  was  his 
adored  friend  and  kept  up  a  lively  correspondence  with  him  ; 
Swift  was  always  welcome  at  his  table.  He  had  many  tastes, 
of  which  book-collecting  was  not  the  least  expensive,  and  of 
the  fortune  of  £500,000  which  his  wife  brought  him,  the 
greater  part  is  said  to  have  been  sacrificed  to  "  indolence, 
good-nature,  and  want  of  worldly  wisdom." 

In  1740  he  was  obliged  to  sell  his  estate  of  Wimpole,  in 
order  to  clear  off  a  debt  of  £100,000,  a  sacrifice  which  failed 
to  appease  his  creditors,  and  a  prey  to  carking  care,  he  found 
the  downward  path  from  conviviality  to  .  inebriety  a  rapid 
one. 

It  was  during  the  lifetime  of  the  second  Lord  Oxford  that 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Baker  bequeathed  his  works  in  manuscript 
to  the  Harleian  library.  A  memorandum  prefixed  to  these 
papers  states  that,  in  consideration  of  one  guinea  (to  satisfy 


342  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

his  executors)  paid  by  Mr  Humphrey  Wanley,  he  bequeaths 
the  twenty-three  above-mentioned  volumes  to  his  friend  and 
patron  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  being  a  part  of  his  collection 
towards  a  history  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  of  which  he 
was  a  member.  The  remaining  volumes  he  left  to  the 
university.  For  industry  and  observation  of  men  and  manners 
as  shown  in  these  materials,  Thomas  Baker  is  not  unworthy 
to  be  compared  with  Anthony  a  Wood  the  historian  of 
Oxford. 

Another  important  addition  to  the  Harleian  library 
was  made  in  1716  by  the  purchase  of  Dr  John  Covel's 
books. 

The  bequest  of  Matthew  Prior,  who  died  at  Wimpole 
in  1721,  consisted  of  nearly  three  hundred  books  from  his  own 
library,  to  be  chosen  by  Lord  Oxford  himself.  The  selection 
which  he  made,  speaks  for  his  (or  Wanley's)  extensive  knowledge 
of  rare  editions.  It  included  among  other  choice  specimens  the 
Ausonius  printed  at  Bordeaux  in  1575,  and  the  Aldine  Com- 
mentary of  Aristotle  issued  in  1504,  Blackwood's  Martyre  de 
la  Royne  d'Ecosse,  Douairiere  de  France,  1587,  and  the  Apologia 
ou  Defense  de  F  Honorable  Sentence  et  Tres-juste  Execution  de 
Marie  Stuard,  1593,  besides  many  other  scarce  books,  the  whole 
being  valued  at  the  absurdly  low  price  of  £>J\. 

The  Harleian,  like  the  Cottonian  library,  was  originally 
intended  by  its  founders  to  furnish  materials  illustrating  the 
history  of  Great  Britain.  It  contains  valuable  copies  of  Gildas, 
Nennius,  Alfred  of  Beverley,  the  Abbot  Benedict,  Florence  of 
Worcester,  and  of  many  other  early  writers.  It  is  rich  in 
chronicles  and  histories  of  abbeys  ;  in  documents  relating  to  the 
domestic  policy  of  the  kings  of  England,  beginning  with  Edward 
the  Confesssor ;  in  lives  of  the  English  saints,  Anselm,  Aidan, 
Alban,  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  Cuthbert,  David,  Dunstan,  the 
venerable  Bede,  etc.  There  are  many  letters  from  kings  and 
other  royal  personages ;  there  are  papers  relating  to  the  dis- 
solution of  the  monasteries  and  the  establishment  of  the 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     343 

Protestant  religion  ;  there  are  statutes,  charters,  letters  patent, 
heraldic,  and  armorial  books,  maps,  original  manuscripts  of  works 
which  mark  the  dawn  of  English  literature,  such  as  unique  copies 
of  Chaucer  and  Lydgate,  and  of  those  intermediate  poets  who 
led  up  to  Shakespeare.  Volume  2278  contains  Lydgate's 
Life  of  St  Edmund,  with  many  miniatures,  which,  if  somewhat 
crudely  executed,  are  of  great  interest  on  account  of  their 
subject.  The  collection  is  extremely  well  provided  with  subject- 
matter  for  a  history  of  the  domestic  policy  of  Queen  Elizabeth ; 
volume  6998  comprises  letters  from  Topclyffe,  the  notorious  spy 
in  the  pay  of  the  government,  and  from  William  Lee,  the 
foreman  of  the  jury  who  sat  on  Campion's  trial,  depositions  of 
witnesses,  lists  of  persons  suspected  or  denounced  as  recusants 
and  warrants  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the  Lord 
Keeper  to  apprehend  them.  There  is  in  the  same  volume  an 
account  of  the  state  of  Wisbeach  prison,  teeming  with  "  seminary 
priests  and  Jesuits,"  to  whom  the  Catholics  of  the  neighbourhood 
had  free  access,  so  that  the  writer  complains  that  the  prison 
resembles  "a  Catholic  commonwealth  in  the  midst  of  a 
Protestant  country,"  and  that  Popery  was  spread  instead  of 
being  extinguished.  Volume  6265  contains  letters  from  Sir 
Francis  Walsingham,  the  arraignment  of  Edmund  Campion, 
an  account  of  Babington's  conspiracy,  and  other  interesting 
papers  belonging  to  that  period.  Volume  5106  consists  mainly 
of  notes  made  by  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  from  the  year  1594  to  1596 
or  thereabouts.  They  form  the  chief  basis  on  which  rests  the 
theory  that  Bacon  wrote  Shakespeare's  works.  Five  large 
volumes  of  letters  from  most  of  the  learned  men  of  his  day  are 
addressed  to  Wanley ;  the  greater  number  of  them  are  in  Latin. 
The  numbering  in  the  catalogue  is,  however,  misleading,  the 
letters  being  now  arranged  alphabetically,  according  to  the 
names  of  the  writers. 

The  Harleian  library  abounds,  moreover,  in  materials  relating 
to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history  of  Scotland.  It  possesses 
a  remarkable  transcript  of  the  Scotichronicon  of  John  Fordun  ; 


344  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

an  original  copy  of  Baston's  verses  on  the  battle  of  Bannockburn  ; 
a  fine  one  of  the  Chronicle  of  Mailros  ;  the  Life  of  King  David, 
written  by  the  Abbot  of  Rievaulx  ;  copies  of  charters  between 
Scottish  and  French  kings ;  and  transcripts  overlooked  by 
Rymer  and  John  Harding  touching  the  lordship  of  England 
over  Scotland.  A  contemporaneous  document  relates  to  the 
marriage  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  to  the  Dauphin,  and  there  are 
various  letters  from  the  same  queen.  We  also  notice  Papal 
Bulls,  enjoining  the  Scottish  bishops  to  render  obedience  to  the 
Archbishop  of  York  as  their  metropolitan,  and  the  king's 
recognition  of  that  archbishop's  rights ;  besides  many  other 
important  papers  too  numerous  to  mention.  Wales  and  Ireland 
are  also  well  represented. 

But  like  the  Cottonian,  the  Harleian  library  spread  its 
borders  far  beyond  the  limits  of  British  history.  As  early  as 
1697  it  had  been  Wanley's  opinion  that  it  would  conduce  very 
much  to  the  welfare  of  learning  in  this  country  if  some  fit 
person  or  persons  were  sent  abroad  to  make  it  their  business 
to  visit  the  libraries  of  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  and  to 
give  a  good  account  of  the  most  valued  manuscripts  in  them. 
"  The  Papists,"  he  adds  in  his  memorandum  to  this  effect,  "  are 
communicative  enough,  for  love  or  money,  of  any  book  that 
does  not  immediately  concern  their  controversies  with  Protes- 
tants," x  a  somewhat  cryptic  utterance  which  Wanley  does  not 
concern  himself  to  explain,  controversy  not  being  one  of  the 
sciences  to  which  his  attention  was  turned.  But  his  letter  of 
instructions  to  Mr  Andrew  Hay,  who  was  commissioned  by 
Lord  Oxford  1720  to  proceed  to  France  and  Italy  in  order  to 
purchase  MSS.  for  him,  shows  such  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  contents  of  the  great  continental  libraries,  that  long  as  it 
is  we  cannot  forbear  transcribing  the  whole : — 

"  Mr  Andrew  Hay,  you  being  upon  your  departure  towards 
1  Harl.  MS.,  vol.  5911,  f.  2. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     345 

France  and  Italy  by  my  noble  Lord's  order,  I  give  you  this 
commission,  not  now  expecting  that  you  can  execute  every 
part  of  it  in  this  journey,  but  yet  hoping  that  you  will  dispatch 
those  articles  which  are  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  put 
the  others  into  a  proper  posture  against  the  time  of  your 
next  return  thither. 

"In  Paris  Fr.  Bernard  Montfaucon  has  some  Coptic,  Syriac, 
and  other  MSS.  worth  the  buying.  Among  them  is  an  old 
leaf  of  the  Greek  Septuagint,  written  in  uncial  or  capital 
letters.  Buy  these  and  the  leaden  book  he  gave  to  Cardinal 
Bouillon  if  he  can  procure  it  for  you  or  direct  you  to  it.  In 
the  archives  of  the  Cistercian  monastery  of  Clervaulx,  I  am 
told  there  are  some  original  letters  or  epistles  written  by  the 
hand  of  St  Hierome  upon  phylira  or  bark.  One  or  more  of 
these  will  be  acceptable  if  not  too  outrageously  valued.  The 
Duke  of  Savoy  has  many  Greek  MSS.,  as  also  the  Egyptian 
board  or  table  of  Isis,  adorned  with  hieroglyphics,  being  those 
which  have  been  explained  by  Pignorius,  Richerus,  etc.  Let 
me  have  some  account  of  these. 

"  At  Venice  buy  a  set  of  the  Greek  liturgical  books  printed 
there — I  mean  a  set  of  the  first  edition  if  they  may  be  had  ; 
if  not  let  us  have  the  other.  Buy  also  Thomassini  Bibliothecae 
Venetae  in  4to.  Get  a  catalogue  of  Mr  Smith's  MSS.  there, 
and  inquire  how  matters  go  about  Giustiniani's  Greek  MSS. 
In  the  bookseller's  shops,  etc.,  you  may  frequently  pick  up 
Greek  MSS.,  which  the  Greeks  bring  from  the  Morea  and 
other  parts  of  the  Levant.  Remember  to  get  the  fragments 
of  Greek  MSS.  you  left  with  the  bookseller  who  bought 
Maffeo's  library.  The  family  of  Moscardi  at  Verona  have 
many  valuable  antiquities,  and  among  the  rest  four  instru- 
ments of  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  junior  [now  imperfect] 
written  upon  phylira.  These  must  be  bought,  and  especial 
care  taken  of  them,  etc.  The  first  begins  '  dem  relectis ' ;  the 
second  '  ius  vir  in  ast ' ;  the  third  '  ius  vir  in ' ;  the  fourth  '  ni 
Siciliensis.'  At  Florence,  the  Dominicans  or  Franciscans 


346 

have  a  large  collection  of  Greek  MSS.  You  may  see  them 
and  get  a  catalogue  of  them  if  you  can.  Buy  Ernstius  or 
some  other  catalogue  of  the  Grand  Duke's  MSS. 

"At  Milan  in  the  Ambrosian  Library  is  a  very  ancient 
Catullus,  part  of  Josephus  in  Latin,  written  upon  bark ;  a 
Samaritan  Pentateuch  in  octavo,  part  of  the  Syriac  Bible  in 
the  ancient  or  Estrangele  characters ;  divers  Greek  MSS.  in 
capital  letters,  being  parts  of  the  Bible,  with  other  books  of 
great  antiquity,  both  Greek  and  Latin.  You  may  look  upon 
them  and  send  me  some  account. 

"At  Monza  [about  ten  miles  from  Milan]  is  an  imperfect 
Antiphonarium  Gregorii  Papae.  It  is  all  written  upon  purple- 
coloured  parchment,  with  capital  letters  of  gold.  Buy  this  if 
you  can. 

"The  family  of  Septata  at  Milan  have  a  Latin  writing  upon 
bark.  Buy  this  if  it  will  be  parted  with. 

"  In  the  archives  of  the  Church  of  Ravenna  are  divers 
instruments  written  upon  bark.  You  may  see  them. 

"  At  Rome  the  Greek  monks  of  St  Basil  have  very  many 
old  Greek  MSS.  written  in  capitals,  particularly  a  book  of  the 
four  Gospels,  and  some  pieces  of  St  Gregory  Nazianzen  upon 
St  Paul's  Epistles.  Buy  as  many  as  you  can,  for  I  hear  they 
are  poor,  and  therefore,  they  may  sell  the  cheaper.  They 
have  likewise  a  Greek  charter  of  Roger,  King  of  Sicily, 
in  five  pieces,  with  some  other  instruments  in  Greek, 
written  upon  bark  or  vellum.  Buy  these  also  if  you 
can. 

"  The  Fathers  of  the  Oratory  at  Rome  have  many  very 
ancient  MSS.,  both  Greek  and  Latin.  See  them  at  least, 
even  supposing  that  they  will  not  sell.  In  the  Cathedral 
library  at  Pisa  are  many  ancient  MSS.  Let  me  have  some 
account  of  these  also. 

"The  monks  of  Bovio,  near,  if  not  in  Pavia,  have  many 
very  ancient  MSS.,  and  among  the  rest  a  book  of  the 
Gospels  in  Latin,  wherein  St  Luke  is  written  Lucanus. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS    34? 

They  have  many  old  deeds  in  their  archives.  Buy  what  you 
can. 

"  At  Cava  [about  a  day's  journey  from  Naples],  is  a 
Benedictine  monastery.  In  the  archives  or  treasury  is  a  Greek 
deed  of  Roger,  King  of  Sicily,  with  his  golden  seal  appendant. 
Buy  this  if  you  can.  In  the  library  are  some  old  MSS. ;  see 
these  at  least,  if  you  cannot  buy. 

"  At  Naples,  in  the  library  of  the  Augustin  Friars  of  St 
John  de  Carbonara  is  a  Greek  MS.  of  the  Gospels  [or  of 
homilies  upon  the  Gospels]  all  written  in  capitals,  with  letters 
of  gold  upon  purple  parchment.  This  must  be  bought.  There 
is  also  a  Dioscorides  in  Greek  capitals,  being  a  large  work  with 
figures  of  the  planets,  etc.  This  must  also  be  bought.  There 
is  also  a  good  number  of  other  ancient  MSS.,  both  Greek 
and  Latin.  Among  the  latter  is  an  Hieronimus  de  Scrip- 
toribus  Ecclesiasticis,  in  Saxon  letters,  and  the  Gospels  in 
Latin,  where  St  Luke  is  called  Lucanus.  Buy  of  these  what 
you  can. 

"  If  the  Greek  MSS.  of  the  monastery  of  St  Saviour,  near 
Messina  in  Sicily,  or  any  of  them  do  remain  there  yet,  or  in 
that  neighbourhood,  as  it  is  probable  they  may,  they  will 
doubtless  come  exceeding  cheap.  You  will  inquire,  however, 
how  this  matter  stands. 

"  Pray  Sir,  all  along  in  your  journey  endeavour  to  secure 
what  Greek  MSS.  and  Latin  classical  MSS.  you  can,  provided 
they  come  at  reasonable  prices,  and  let  me  be  favoured  with 
an  account  of  your  proceedings  as  often  as  may  be 
convenient." 

And  he  adds  : — 

"  Mr  Hay,  in  executing  this  commission,  my  noble  Lord 
cannot  give  you  positive  directions  how  to  bid  upon  every 
occasion,  by  reason  of  this  his  great  distance  from  those  parts, 
and  must  therefore  rely  upon  your  fidelity,  your  prudence, 
your  usual  dexterity  in  business,  and  your  personal  affection 


348  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

to  him.  You  will  be  sure  always  to  buy  as  cheap  as  you  can, 
for  I  foresee  that  some  of  the  things  his  Lordship  chiefly  wants 
or  is  desirous  of,  will  not  come  for  a  small  matter.  In  most 
of  the  monasteries  you  will  be  able  to  buy  for  ready  money ; 
but  it  may  be  at  a  cheaper  rate  with  the  Greek  monks  at  St 
Basil's  monastery  at  Rome,  whose  MSS.  are  good,  and  them- 
selves in  want. 

"  I  beseech  God  to  bless  and  prosper  you  all  along  in  this 
so  long  a  journey,  and  to  bring  you  back  again  with  safety  and 
good  success  ;  and  you  may  be  sure  that  you  will  be  more 
welcome  to  but  very  few  than  to,  good  Sir,  your  very  hearty 
well-wisher  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  HUMPHREY  WANLEY. 

"  2(>th  April  1720" l 

Mr  Hay's  expedition  was  not  entirely  successful.  Some  of 
the  manuscripts  mentioned  in  the  above  letter,  which  Wanley 
insisted  "must  be  bought,"  are  clearly  not  in  the  Harleian 
collection,  and  notably  the  Greek  and  Latin  MSS.  written  in 
letters  of  gold  upon  purple  parchment.  For  this  library 
contains  among  its  choicest  treasures  no  manuscript  entirely 
written  upon  purple  vellum,  the  Codex  Aureus  being  only 
partially  thus  stained.  As  we  have  already  seen,  during  the 
early  ages  of  Christianity,  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  in  the 
habit  of  writing  their  most  precious  books  in  letters  of  gold  and 
silver  on  purple-stained  vellum,  that  colour  being  the  distinguish- 
ing sign  of  royalty  and  greatness.  Purple  was  only  worn  by 
princes,  and  in  this  manner  of  distinguishing  the  Scriptures  was 
shown  the  high  degree  of  reverence  in  which  they  were  held. 
The  practice  was  continued  during  the  fifth  and  three  following 
centuries,  although  it  was  so  little  known  in  England  that  when, 
towards  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  St  Wilfrid,  Archbishop 
of  York,  gave  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  ornamented  in  this  manner 

1  Printed  in  the  Preface  to  the  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian  MSS. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     349 

to  York  Minster,  his  biographer  described  the  book  as  a  thing 
almost  miraculous.  Manuscripts  entirely  composed  of  leaves  of 
purple  vellum  are  of  the  greatest  rarity,  and  many  are  described 
by  palaeographers  as  purple-stained  when  they  are  only  partially 
so.  The  age  of  a  manuscript  may  sometimes  be  determined 
among  other  characteristics  by  the  fineness  and  whiteness  of  the 
vellum,  and  sometimes  by  its  purple  colour.  The  MSS. 
numbered  2788,  2820,  and  2821  in  the  Harleian  library  are 
described  by  Astle  as  purple-stained,  whereas  they  are  only  thus 
painted  in  places  intended  to  receive  the  golden  letters. 
Frequently,  only  the  most  important  parts,  such  as  the  title- 
pages,  prefaces,  or  a  few  pages  at  the  beginning  of  each  gospel 
or  the  Canon  of  the  Mass,  were  written  on  vellum  which  had 
been  prepared  in  this  manner. 

Wanley,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  letter,  added  to 
his  knowledge  of  manuscripts  a  certain  fondness  for  driving 
a  bargain.  He  was  extremely  desirous  of  obtaining  the 
treasures  which  he  describes  so  accurately,  but  he  was  almost  as 
much  bent  on  getting  them  cheap  as  on  getting  them  at  all. 
This  may  have  been  the  result  of  solicitude  for  his  patron's 
pocket,  for  Lord  Oxford  was  ruining  himself  to  enrich  his  library  ; 
but  at  all  events  in  this  matter  nature  and  grace  seem  to  have 
gone  amicably  hand  in  hand.  Wanley's  only  comment  on  the 
death  of  the  Earl  of  Sunderland  in  1722  is  to  the  effect  that  it 
will  make  rare  old  books  more  accessible  from  the  fact  of  their 
being  less  in  demand,  "  so  that  any  gentleman  may  be  permitted 
to  buy  an  uncommon  old  book  for  less  than  forty  or  fifty 
pounds." 

Number  2788  is  the  wonderful  Codex  Aureus  or  Golden 
Gospels.  Its  acquisition  by  Lord  Oxford  is  chronicled  in 
Wanley's  Diary  in  the  year  1720.  On  the  I4th  May  he 
wrote : — 

"Yesterday  Mr  Vaillant  (a  bookseller)  brought  me  a 
specimen  of  the  characters  of  that  Latin  MS.  of  the  Gospels, 
which  is  to  be  sold  at  the  approaching  auction  of  Menare's 


350  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

books  at  the  Hague.  These  characters  are  all  uncials,  gilded 
over  with  gold,  and  appear  to  be  formed  in  very  elegant 
manner.  Among  them  I  observe  A,  G,  V,  M  and  E  so  shaped, 
which  is  not  commonly  seen  in  the  body  or  text  of  old  MSS., 
although  frequent  in  the  title  or  Rubrics.  In  my  opinion  this 
most  ancient  and  valuable  book  should  be  purchased  at  any 
rate." 

Lord  Oxford  gave  orders  for  the  Golden  Manuscript  to  be 
secured,  and  commissioned  Mr  Vaillant  to  buy  it  with  all 
secrecy  and  prudence.  There  are  several  entries  in  Wanley's 
Diary  concerning  the  negotiations  for  this  purchase,  and  on  the 
2/th  June  all  was  brought  to  a  happy  conclusion. 

"  This  day  the  Codex  Aureus  Latinus  was  cleared  out  of  the 
king's  warehouse,  and  delivered  into  my  custody."  On  the 
2Qth  its  solemn  entry  into  the  Harleian  library  is  recorded,  and 
on  the  1 3th  July  of  the  following  year,  we  find  that  "  Mr  Elliot, 
having  clothed  the  Codex  Aureus  in  my  Lord's  morocco  leather, 
took  the  same  home  this  day,  in  order  to  work  upon  it  with  his 
best  tools,  which  he  can  do  with  much  more  conveniency  at  his 
own  house  than  here."  Wanley  makes  a  note  of  this  circum- 
stance because  of  his  "speedy  journey  to  Oxford  in  case  any  ill 
accident  should  happen." 

This  celebrated  MS.  is  written  throughout  in  gold  letters  upon 
vellum,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  lines  of  chapters  in  the 
Gospels  and  the  first  lines  of  the  subsidiary  articles,  which  are 
in  red  ink.  The  paintings  of  the  four  evangelists  are  extremely 
interesting,  and  the  title-pages  are  stained  purple.  This  codex 
is  described  by  Sir  Edward  Maunde  Thompson  as  French,  of 
the  time  of  Charlemagne,  and  we  may  add  that  its  position  in 
the  Harleian  may  be  compared  to  that  of  the  Durham  or 
Lindisfarne  Gospels  in  the  Cottonian  library. 

The  manuscripts  numbered  2820  and  2821  are  further 
examples  of  partially  purple-stained  vellum,  in  imitation  of 
earlier  work.  They  are  of  German  workmanship  of  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries.  The  execution  of  the  miniatures  is 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     351 

condemned  by  Sir  Edward  Thompson  as  "  very  rude "  and 
"  hard,"  but  with  all  deference  to  so  great  an  authority  "we 
must  put  in  a  plea  for  them,  on  the  score  of  their  extreme 
nalvet£  and  candour. 

A  mediaeval  roll  of  immense  interest,  one  of  the  greatest 
treasures  of  this  collection,  consists  of  a  series  of  beautiful  outline 
drawings,  known  as  the  Guthlac  Roll,  representing  scenes  from 
the  life  of  St  Guthlac.  These  drawings,  which  are  of  the  twelfth 
century,  are  contained  in  eighteen  rondeaux,  intended,  perhaps, 
as  a  design  for  a  stained-glass  window  in  honour  of  the  saint  at 
Croyland.  They  quaintly  describe,  in  exquisite  delicacy  of  form 
and  colour,  how  the  young  Guthlac,  after  taking  leave  of  his 
parents,  renounces  the  profession  of  arms,  and  receives  the 
tonsure  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Hedda.  Then,  sailing  away  in 
a  boat  to  Croyland,  he  builds  an  oratory  with  the  help  of  two 
companions,  Becelin  and  Tatwin,  and  an  angel  converses  with 
him.  No  sooner  is  he  launched  on  his  new  career  of  prayer, 
good  works,  and  bodily  mortification,  than  demons  assail  him, 
carry  him  to  the  roof  of  his  oratory,  and  scourge  him  with 
knotted  cords.  But  he  scares  them  away  with  the  white 
scourge  given  to  him  by  St  Bartholomew.  He  is  then  ordained 
priest,  instructs  Ethelbald  in  the  Christian  religion,  and 
prophecies  that  he  will  be  king.  The  last  six  rondeaux  show 
forth  the  death  of  Guthlac,  the  burial  of  his  body  by  his  sister 
Pega,  his  appearing  to  Ethelbald  and  his  attendants  who  are 
weeping  round  his  tomb,  and  his  blissful  state  in  heaven  among 
the  benefactors  of  Croyland  Abbey. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  Wanley's  Diary,1  a 
chronicle  of  the  purchases  made  by  Lord  Oxford  during  the 
greater  part  of  Wanley's  custodianship,  and  of  the  principal 
events  which  happened  in  the  library.  It  begins  on  the  2nd 
March  1714,  when  Wanley  had  been  librarian  for  about  six 
years,  Many  of  the  entries  are  exceedingly  curious,  as  de- 

1  Lansdoivne  MSS.y  771,  772. 


352  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

monstrating  the  energy  with  which  old  manuscripts  were  traced, 
discovered,  and  purchased,  and  the  tact  and  discretion  employed, 
in  order  to  induce  their  owners  to  part  with  them.  A  fine 
manuscript  of  part  of  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History  in  Saxon, 
and  two  other  valuable  Saxon  MSS.  —  King  Alfred's  trans- 
lation of  Ossian  and  a  copy  of  ./Elfrick's  Grammar — were 
discovered  in  private  hands,  besides  the  Psalterium  Galli- 
canum  of  St  Jerome  "  with  the  #•  and  -f- ,  written  about  the 
time  of  the  last  King  .dSthelred,  with  the  Litany  and  some 
prayers,  being  one  of  the  most  beautiful  books  that  can  be 
seen." 

There  was,  moreover,  a  constant  movement  in  the  library 
itself.  All  those  who  had  any  kind  of  manuscript  for  sale  came 
to  Wanley,  and  he  notifies  in  his  diary  the  arrival  of  books  in 
Chinese,  Armenian,  Samaritan,  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  ^Ethiopic,  and 
Arabic  (both  in  Asiatic  and  African  letters),  in  Persian,  Turkish, 
Russian,  Greek  (ancient  and  modern),  Latin,  French,  Italian, 
Spanish,  Provencal,  High  German,  Low  German,  Flemish, 
Anglo-Saxon,  English,  Welsh,  and  Irish,  in  all  about  940  manu- 
scripts,— 

"  Which  is,"  he  remarks,  "  a  great  parcel,  besides  which  my 
Lord  hath  got  many  other  MSS.  remaining  at  Wimpole.  .  .  . 
My  Lord  hath  not  only  other  MSS.  in  this  room,  written  in 
almost  all  those  [languages]  above  enumerated,  but  also  in 
those  that  follow,  which  I  call  to  mind  on  the  sudden — viz., 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Sanscrit  or  Hanscrit,  Malabaric,  Syriac,  in 
the  Nestorian,  as  well  as  in  the  common  characters  (some  few 
specimens  of  Coptic  letters),  Slavonian,  Wallachian,  Hungarian, 
Courlandish,  Francic  or  old  Teutonic,  Biscayan,  Portuguese." 
On  another  occasion,  a  person  who  had  some  books  for  sale, 
which  he  was  anxious  that  Lord  Oxford  should  buy,  offered 
Wanley  a  douceur,  in  the  hope  that  the  librarian  would  press 
their  purchase,  "  not  knowing,"  he  says  simply,  "  the  kind  of 
man  I  am."  Wanley  refused  the  bribe,  but  advised  his  patron 
to  buy  the  books,  which  he  did. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     353 

At  another  time — 

"  A  French  sort  of  droll  came  to  my  lodging,  saying  he  was 
sent  to  me  by  Mr  Bu-Pis,  of  Long  Acre.  He  pulled  out  a  4to 
paper  MS.,  dedicated  to  Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  treating 
of  Geomancy,  and  other  like  nonsense,  being  written  mostly  in 
German.  Monsieur  stumped  up  the  value  of  it,  and  often  swore 
it  was  the  finest  thing  in  the  world.  I  asked  him  the  price  of  it, 
and  looked  grum  and  gravely,  which  he  saw  with  satisfaction ; 
but  as  soon  as  his  answer  of  fifty  guineas  was  out,  I  replied 
that  was  the  book  mine  he  should  have  it  for  the  hundredth 
part  of  a  quart  d'ecu.  The  droll  would,  however,  have  made 
remonstrances,  but  I  would  hear  none ;  il  ne  vaut  rien  being  my 
word.  So  I  waited  on  him  downstairs,  which  he  took  as  a  piece 
of  ceremony ;  but  indeed  it  was  to  see  him  out  of  the  house 
without  stealing  something." 

One  of  the  most  important  negotiations  chronicled  by 
Wanley  relates  to  the  purchase  of  the  Graevius  MSS.  in  1724-25. 
Johann  Graevius  was  a  German  classical  scholar,  born  in  1632, 
and  chiefly  known  by  his  Thesaurus  Antiquitatum  Romanorum, 
and  his  Antiquitatum  et  Historianum  Italia,  in  45  volumes.  His 
library,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  Europe,  was  sold  at  his 
death  in  1703  to  the  elector,  Johann  Wilhelm,  for  6000  Reichs- 
thaler.  The  elector  presented  all  the  printed  books  in  this 
collection  to  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  but  kept  the  manu- 
scripts, 119  in  number,  in  his  own  library  at  Diisseldorf.  They 
were  accounted  such  treasures,  that  travellers,  interested  in 
antiquities,  were  taken  to  see  them.  The  German  scholar 
Uffenbach,  who  visited  the  elector's  library  in  i7:I>  says  °f 
them  : — 

"  Among  the  few  MSS.  that  were  shown  to  me,  the  most 
remarkable  was  a  beautiful  old  quarto  codex  of  Horace,  which 
Graevius  once  lent  to  Mr  Bentley,  who  could  not  be  prevailed  on 
to  restore  it  till  forced  into  it  by  the  threat  that  the  elector 
would  appeal  to  the  Queen.  There  were  several  volumes  of 
autograph  letters  from  learned  men,  collected  by  Graevius,  and 

z 


354  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

several  very  beautiful  breviaries,  among  which  was  one  in 
duodecimo,  bound  in  silver,  and  containing  as  many  beautiful 
figures  as  I  have  ever  seen  in  such  books.  Mr  Le  Roy  also 
showed  me  the  'Officia  Ciceronis,'  printed  by  Scheffer  in  1466 
— namely  the  books  De  Amicitia  et  Senectute." 

The  above  books,  together  with  others  not  mentioned  by 
Uffenbach,  subsequently  found  their  way  into  the  Harleian 
library,  and  have  been  identified  by  Mr  A.  C.  Clark,  who  has 
made  a  careful  study  of  them  aided  by  the  dates  written  in 
Wanley's  hand  on  the  first  page.1 

The  manner  of  their  disappearance  from  the  elector's  library 
illustrates  the  more  than  questionable  dealings  to  which  book- 
collectors  were  often  subjected  at  the  hands  of  their  librarians. 
There  is  a  curious  correspondence  preserved  in  the  Bodleian 
library,  consisting  of  autograph  letters  which  passed  between 
Biichels,  the  elector's  librarian  at  Diisseldorf,  and  Zamboni,  the 
resident  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain  for  the  Landgraf  of  Hessen 
Darmstadt.  In  appearance  the  correspondence  is  innocent 
enough  :  Zamboni  has  manuscripts  for  sale  on  behalf  of  persons 
abroad.  But  there  is  far  more  than  meets  the  eye,  and  the 
letters  contain  almost  beyond  doubt  the  disguised  and  detailed 
account  of  how  the  elector  was  robbed  of  his  manuscripts,  and 
how  Zamboni  defrauded  the  fraudulent  librarian  Biichels.  In- 
deed the  whole  history  of  the  Graevius  manuscripts  seems  to  be 
one  of  peculation,  until  .they  came  into  Lord  Oxford's  posses- 
sion. Graevius  himself  was  by  no  means  irreproachable  in 
the  matter  of  restoring  borrowed  books ;  Biichels,  a  Latin 
scholar  and  bibliograph  of  some  merit,  had  a  suspicious 
tendency  to  appropriate  his  master's  goods ;  and  Zamboni, 
had  he  lived  in  these  days,  would  certainly  have  been  pro- 
secuted for  criminal  bankruptcy,  if,  indeed,  the  greater  part  of 
the  transaction  were  not  considered  too  dishonest  to  risk 
exposure. 

1  See  his  interesting  paper  in  the  "Classical  Review,"  October  1891,  The 
Library  of  J.  G.  Grcevius. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     355 

Biichels,  in  writing  to  Zamboni,  I3th  August  1717,  maintains 
an  air  of  mystery  about  the  books  which  he  offers  to  him  for 
sale,  professing  to  get  them  from  various  monasteries,  and  de- 
scribing the  difficulties  which  he  has  in  obtaining  them.  There 
are  English  dealers  about,  too,  who  raise  the  price  of  everything. 
By  degrees  he  sends  lists  of  what  he  has  to  dispose  of,  and 
shelters  himself  behind  a  mysterious  friend,  who  is  obliged  to 
sell  such  and  such  a  manuscript.  Sometimes  this  friend  is 
travelling  about,  sometimes  he  is  in  the  country,  but  he  is 
always  the  source  of  difficulties.  But  Zamboni  is  not  deceived 
to  the  extent  to  which  Biichels  wishes  to  deceive  him,  and  he 
knows  full  well  that  the  manuscripts  offered  to  him  all  formed 
part  of  the  Codices  Graeviani,  and  he  tells  Wanley  so,  but  does 
not  of  course  mention  Biichels.  Meanwhile  there  is  much 
bargaining  between  Buchels  and  Zamboni ;  but  it  is  certain, 
from  the  correspondence  in  the  Bodleian  library,  that  Zamboni 
never  paid  for  the  MSS.  which  he  sold  to  Lord  Oxford  in 
anything  but  promises.  The  bills  which  he  gave  were  never 
met,  and  if  the  elector  was  the  loser,  his  librarian  cannot 
be  said  to  have  profited  by  the  fraud  which  he  undoubtedly 
committed. 

Wanley's  part  in  the  transaction,  a  strictly  honourable  one,  is 
fully  recorded  in  the  Diary.  On  the  26th  December  1724,  he 
wrote : — 

"  The  last  night  Mr  Mattaire  came  to  me  and  said  that  he 
had  seen  Signor  Zamboni,  and  nine  MSS.  which  are  lately  come 
to  him  from  Italy — that  they  will  soon  be  sent  to  his  house 
without  being  shown  to  any  other,  and  that  then  I  shall  see  them 
forthwith.  And  further,  that  this  Signor  expects  a  little  parcel 
of  Greek  MSS.,  not  yet  arrived."  Three  weeks  later  he  again 
wrote : — 

"  This  morning  I  went  to  Mr  Mattaire,  with  whom  I  saw 
fifteen  old  Latin  MSS.,  or  fragments  of  MSS.,  belonging  now 
to  Signor  Zamboni,  but  formerly  to  the  Dutch  Professor 
Graevius." 


356  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

He  opened  a  negotiation,  and  after  some  months  wrote 
thus : — 

"  Signor  Zamboni,  sending  a  very  kind  letter  to  me,  desiring 
to  visit  me,  either  here  or  at  my  lodgings,  I  desired  he  would 
please  to  call  here,  my  lodgings  being  out  of  order,  by  reason 
of  my  maid's  being  married  yesterday.  Signor  Zamboni  came 
hither  about  2,  and  I  showed  him  many  more  of  my  Lord's 
MSS.  to  his  great  satisfaction.  At  length  he  desired  that  I 
would  go  along  with  him  to  an  ordinary,  where  he  was  to 
dine  with  some  foreign  persons  of  distinction.  I  complied 
with  his  request,  as  thinking  I  might  do  my  Lord  some 
service;  and  after  dinner  was  over,  and  the  rest  of  the 
company  gone,  he  assured  me  that  as  to  the  price  of  the 
MSS.  which  he  hath  sent  hither,  he  will  leave  it  entirely  to  my 
regulation,  and  accept  of  whatever  I  shall  think  an  equitable 
price  for  them ;  only,  he  desires  a  dispatch  as  speedy  as  may 
be,  lest  the  owner  should  send  for  them  back.  He  further 
said  that  the  owner  chiefly  values  the  two  volumes  of  learned 
men's  Letters,  the  Saxon  Spieghel,  and  the  Prayer-book  of 
Solyman  the  Magnificent." 

Three  days  later,  27  September  1725,  the  Diary  further 
records : — 

"Yesterday  Signor  Zamboni  came  to  me,  and  was  enter- 
tained to  his  own  content  and  satisfaction.  He  conferred 
with  me  about  the  MSS.  here  in  my  custody,  and  will  stand 
to  my  award,  between  my  Lord  and  him.  He  says  that  as 
to  the  things  my  Lord  formerly  had  of  him,  that  he  was  no 
gainer,  but  that  in  one  of  the  parcels,  he  of  himself  lowered 
the  price  twenty  pounds  less  than  his  commission  ran  for. 
I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  separate  the  two  volumes  of  Letters, 
the  Saxon  Spieghel  and  Solyman's  Prayer-book,  although 
they  are  very  curious  and  valuable  things,  and  so  my  Lord 
may  have  the  others  very  cheap.  This  done,  I  believe  that 
the  same  Letters  and  two  MSS.  may  in  time  fall  into  my 
Lord's  hands  at  a  price  far  lower  than  they  are  now  held  up 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     357 

at  Signer  Zamboni,  who  proves  to  be  a  good-natured  and  is 
[I  believe]  an  honest  gentleman,  mentioned  4000  more 
original  Letters  in  the  possession  of  his  correspondent,  which 
may  soon  be  brought  over  into  England." 

On  the  2nd  October  he  added  : — 

"  I  waited  on  Signer  Zamboni  yesterday,  who  is  daily 
teased  by  his  Dutch  correspondent  about  the  chest  of  MSS. 
lying  here." 

There  was  a  further  delay  of  nearly  a  fortnight,  and  then 
Wanley  wrote  to  the  rogue  Zamboni  to  the  effect  that  Lord 
Oxford  had  at  last  seen  many  of  his  manuscripts,  which  he 
was  not  unwilling  to  buy  at  a  reasonable  price,  and  that  he 
would  willingly  forego  the  two  volumes  of  letters,  the 
Saxon  Spieghel  and  Sultan  Solyman's  Prayer-book,  "  if  held 
up  too  dear."  He  asked  for  the  Greek  MS.  of  Hesiod  which 
he  formerly  saw  among  them,  but  which  had  since  been 
withdrawn.  Ultimately  he  sent  back  some  of  the  books  for  which 
"this  most  greedy  Signor"  asked  "the  most  horrible  price." 
Wanley's  hope  that  they  might  subsequently  come  to  the 
library  for  less  money  was  fulfilled  as  far  as  the  letters  were 
concerned  ;  these  are  now  to  be  found  in  volumes  4933,  4934, 
493 5>  and  4936.  Among  them  are  a  few  other  letters  which 
were  already  in  the  Harleian  library  when  the  Diisseldorf 
manuscripts  were  purchased.  Wanley  had  them  all  bound 
up  together. 

The  manuscripts  bought  by  Wanley  from  Zamboni  number 
eighty-four,  and  comprise  nearly  all  the  important  books 
mentioned  in  the  Graevius  catalogue.  The  Hesiod  is  the  only 
valuable  Greek  MS.  missing,  and  the  principal  Latin  MS.  of 
this  collection,  which  did  not  pass  into  the  Harleian  library,  is 
a  Terence.  It  is  also  to  be  regretted  that  Wanley  did  not 
secure  the  prayers  of  Solyman  and  the  celebrated  Saxon 
Spieghel.  Of  the  eighty-four  other  MSS.,  two  have  a  special 
historical  interest :  the  Cicero  (2682)  and  the  Quintilian  (2664), 
both  of  which  can  be  traced  to  the  Cathedral  library  at  Cologne. 


358  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

Graivius  borrowed  the  Cicero  in  1663  from  the  authorities,  but 
never  returned  it.  The  elector,  Johann  Wilhelm,  bought  it 
among  other  books  which  were  sold  at  his  death.  It  consists 
of  a  folio  of  192  leaves  of  coarse  vellum  written  in  a  German 
hand  of  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  has  been 
the  subject  of  much  learned  criticism.  It  was  collated  by  Mr 
A.  C.  Clark,  but  until  he  identified  it  as  one  of  the  books 
that  had  formed  part  of  the  Graevius  collection,  very  little 
attention  had  been  paid  to  it.  There  is  no  trace  of  it  before 
the  sixteenth  century,  beyond  the  fact  that  its  first  collator 
was  Modius  of  Cologne,  who  was  allowed  to  use  the  Cathe- 
dral library,  to  which  the  Cicero  then  belonged.  The  ac- 
quisition of  these  manuscripts  was  the  last  important  purchase 
made  by  Wanley ;  he  died  a  few  months  later,  aged  fifty- 
three. 

Besides  the  above-mentioned  treasures  from  the  Diisseldorf 
library  the  Harleian  possesses,  among  other  Greek  classical 
manuscripts,  some  that  are  unique  in  character.  Sir  Edward 
Thompson,  in  his  "  Catalogue  of  Ancient  Greek  MSS.  in  the 
British  Museum,"  calls  attention  to  three  in  the  Harleian 
collection  which  appear  to  him  to  be  of  superior  merit.  These 
are:  (i)  The  Greek-Latin  glossary  of  the  seventh  century. 
This  manuscript  is  of  singular  interest  both  for  language  and 
palaeography,  and  consists  of  277  leaves  of  vellum  varying 
in  thickness,  some  of  it  being  very  coarse.  At  the  end,  on 
a  fly-leaf  is  some  scribbling  in  what  is  described  as  "  a  Mero- 
vingian hand."  (2)  The  Greek  MS.  of  the  ninth  or  tenth 
century,  imperfect  in  the  beginning,  and  in  several  other 
places,  described  by  Wanley  as  the  Codex  Prusensis.  The 
initial  letters,  some  of  which  are  ornamented,  are  generally 
red.  (3)  A  volume  numbered  5694  in  the  catalogue,  and 
containing  a  part  of  Lucian's  works,  on  134  leaves  of  fine 
vellum  of  the  tenth  century.  On  the  second  fly-leaf  are 
these  words  in  an  Italian  fifteenth-century  hand  :  "  Libro  de 
Jo.  Chalceopylus,  Constantinopolitanus,"  and  at  the  bottom 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     359 

of  the  page,  "  Antonii  Seripandi  ex  Henrici  Casolle  amici 
optimi  munere."  Wanley  says  that  this  MS.  was  supposed 
to  have  been  carried  from  the  old  imperial  library  at 
Constantinople  to  the  monastery  of  Bobi  near  Naples.  He 
considered  it  "|the  finest  old  Greek  classical  MS.  now  in 
England."  The  library  of  Seripandus  was  preserved  in  the 
Augustinian  monastery  of  St  John  of  Carbonara  at  Naples, 
but  a  part  of  it  was  sold  to  Jan  de  Witt,  who  took  it  to 
Holland,  and  this  manuscript  was  among  the  number,  and  was 
included  in  the  sale  catalogue  of  De  Witt's  library  in  1701. 
It  was  bought  by  Jan  van  der  Mark  of  Utrecht,  and  on  this 
account  it  is  described  in  the  Amsterdam  edition  of  the  work 
as  the  Codex  Mardanus.  Later  on  it  came  into  the  possession 
of  John  Bridges  of  Northamptonshire,  who  sold  it  to  the 
second  Lord  Oxford. 

The  earliest  Latin  MS.  in  the  Harleian  library  is  a  copy  of 
the  four  Gospels  of  the  sixth  or  seventh  century — No.  1775.  It 
was  bought  by  the  founder  of  the  library  from  Jean  Aymon, 
who  stole  it,  together  with  eight  other  manuscripts,  from  the 
Bibliothique  Royale  in  Paris,  in  1707.  It  still  bears  on  folio  2 
its  original  press-mark.  Another  MS.  in  Lord  Oxford's 
possession  having  been  identified  as  one  of  these,  was  restored 
to  its  rightful  owners  in  1729.  This  relic  of  early  Christian 
times  consists  of  35  leaves  of  the  Epistles  of  St  Paul,  the 
canonical  Epistle,  and  the  Apocalypse,  written  in  gold  letters  on 
vellum.  The  adventure  through  which  it  found  itself  in  the 
Harleian  library  together  with  the  precious  No.  1775,  may  be 
thus  briefly  related  : — 

Jean  Aymon  was  a  renegade  French  priest  who  had  retired 
to  the  Hague,  married,  and  become  a  Lutheran  pastor.  He 
enjoyed  a  considerable  reputation  for  learning  and  piety  among 
the  Dutch  ;  but  wearying  of  his  monotonous,  uneventful  life,  he 
resolved  on  returning  to  France  under  pretext  of  offering  to 
Monsieur  Clement,  the  king's  sub-librarian,  a  certain  book  which 
he  had  discovered.  He  accordingly  wrote  to  Clement  asking 


360  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

him  to  procure  him  a  passport,  in  order  that  he  might  present 
the  book  in  question,  and  reveal  some  important  matters  to 
the  king.  Clement  obtained  the  passport,  and  Aymon  returned 
to  France,  where,  in  order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the 
librarian,  he  declared  that  he  wished  to  be  restored  in  religion. 
He  was  advised  to  retire  for  a  time  to  the  seminary  of 
Foreign  Missions,  in  order  to  study  his  position  and  to 
prepare  for  his  rehabilitation  as  a  priest.  But  he  complained 
bitterly  of  the  treatment  which  he  received  at  the  seminary,  and 
paid  frequent  visits  to  C16ment,  who,  with  astounding  simplicity, 
allowed  him  to  remain  for  hours,  often  quite  alone,  in  the  Royal 
library.  Here  he  employed  himself  in  making  selections  from 
priceless  manuscripts,  sometimes  cutting  out  pages  from  the 
middle  of  a  volume  where  the  theft  would  be  less  easily  detected. 
When  he  had  gathered  in  a  considerable  harvest,  he  cleverly 
obtained  another  passport,  and  escaped  back  to  the  Hague  with 
his  ill-gotten  gains.  He  accounted  for  his  absence  by  saying 
that  he  had  been  to  seek  documents,  important  for  the  defence 
of  religion,  and  made  no  secret  of  having  brought  back  rich 
trophies.  It  was  thus  through  public  rumour  that  Clement  first 
became  aware  that  the  king's  library  had  been  robbed.  But 
Aymon's  method  of  pilfering  had  so  far  succeeded  that  it  was 
some  time  before  it  could  be  ascertained  what  number  of 
manuscripts  he  had  carried  off.  By  degrees,  however,  the  list 
was  completed  and  sent  to  Holland.  The  Abbe"  Bignon  was  the 
king's  librarian  at  the  time  when  it  was  discovered  that  one  at 
least  of  the  stolen  treasures  was  in  the  Harleian  library.  As 
soon  as  Edward,  Lord  Oxford  became  aware  of  the  fact,  he 
hastened  to  restore  it,  and  received  in  exchange  a  very  polite 
acknowledgement  of  his  courtesy  from  Cardinal  Fleury  on 
behalf  of  the  king.1 

In  1725  Wanley  enumerated  the  Greek  MSS.  in  the  Harleian 
collection  as  173.     Among  the  illuminated  ones,  that  which  bears 

*  L.  V.  Delisle,  Le  Cabinet  des  Manuscrits  de  la  Bibliothlque  Imperials. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     361 

the  number  1810  demands  special  attention.  It  is  an  Evangelia 
executed  in  Greece  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  written  in  black 
and  red  characters  on  the  finest  vellum.  Some  of  the  miniatures 
have  suffered  woefully,  the  paint  having  cracked  in  parts,  but 
the  faces  are  still  full  of  beauty  and  life.  One  of  the  least 
damaged  represents  the  death  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  The 
apostles  surround  the  bed  on  which  she  lies  extended ;  the  aged 
St  Peter  lifts  up  his  hands  in  an  attitude  of  grief;  St  John  is 
leaning  over  her  left  side  ;  another  bends  forward  and  embraces 
her  feet.  In  a  lozenge-shaped  medallion  on  a  gold  background 
our  Lord  holds  her  soul  in  His  arms,  in  the  form  of  a  little  child. 
A  crowd  of  people  form  the  background,  and  a  figure  at  the  head 
of  the  bed  swings  a  censer.  Three  women  contemplate  the  scene 
from  a  small  window. 

Another  remarkable  miniature,  the  last  in  the  volume,  is  a 
good  deal  cracked,  but  still  extremely  interesting  for  the  force  and 
delicacy  of  touch  which  it  displays.  Our  Lord  appears  to  the 
apostles  after  His  Resurrection.  St  Thomas  is  in  the  act  of 
placing  his  finger  in  the  wounded  side.  The  print  of  the  nails  is 
seen  in  the  hands  and  feet.  Sir  Edward  Thompson  distinguishes 
this  manuscript  with  his  by  no  means  frequent  encomium, 
"  very  good." 

The  Greek  Evangelium  of  the  ninth  or  tenth  century  (5787), 
with  its  ornamental  initials  and  borders,  and  St  Jerome's  Latin 
version  of  the  Psalter  (2793),  with  a  preface  addressed  to 
Sophronius,  and  written  in  a  tenth-century  hand,  should  not 
be  passed  over. 

Another  Psalter  (2904),  executed  in  England  at  the  end  of 
the  tenth  or  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  has  a  fine 
drawing  of  the  Crucifixion,  and  grand  initial  letters.  Westwood, 
in  his  Facsimiles  and  Miniatures,  considers  this  drawing  to  be 
the  finest  of  the  kind,  and  the  initial  B  (Beatus  vir  qui  non  abiit 
in  consilio  impiorum),  the  noblest  with  which  he  is  acquainted. 
This  manuscript  has  most  of  the  characteristics  of  the  later 
Anglo-Saxon  school — the  hunched-up  shoulders  to  express  grief, 


362  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

the  attenuated  lower  limbs,  and  the  manner  in  which  prominence 
is  given  to  the  central  figure  by  drawing  the  others  much 
smaller.  On  a  scroll  which  St  John  holds  are  the  words,  "  Hie 
est  discipulis  qui  testimonii  perhibet"  The  arrangement  of 
Pilate's  superscription — "  Hie  est  Nazaren  IHC  rex  judaeor  " — is 
unusual  but  not  without  precedent 

The  Harleian  library  contains  no  fewer  than  300  MSS.  of  the 
Bible  or  parts  of  the  Bible,  written  and  illuminated  between  the 
seventh  and  the  fourteenth  centuries.  Of  the  later  copies  we 
may  note  one  of  the  whole  Bible,  written  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  described  in  the  "  Catalogue  of  Ancient  MSS.  in 
the  British  Museum,"  as  remarkable  ;  and  a  Psalter,  written 
before  1339,  splendidly  illuminated,  and  further  interesting  as 
having  belonged  to  Philippa  of  Hainault,  and  as  bearing  the  arms 
of  England  without  those  of  France. 

There  is  also  a  fine  series  of  Talmudical  and  Rabbinical 
books  ;  nearly  200  volumes  of  Fathers  of  the  Church,  as  well  as 
liturgical  books  of  the  different  Latin  and  Greek  rites. 

The  polite  literature  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  admirably 
represented,  among  other  examples  by  the  famous  Roman  de  la 
Rose,  with  its  brilliant  fourteenth-century  miniatures,  its  wonder- 
ful figures  gorgeously  dressed,  its  broad  borders  richly  decorated 
with  fruit,  birds,  insects,  and  flowers,  of  which  the  rose  is  the 
most  salient  feature.  One  fascinating  miniature  shows — 

"  Comment  Narcissus  se  mira 
A  la  fontaine  et  souspira "  ; 

and  after  a  long  but  delightful  pilgrimage  by  flowery  meads 
and  limpid  streams,  amid  curious  mediaeval  gardens 

"  La  conclusion  du  rommant 
Est  que  vous  voiez  ez  lemant 
Qui  prent  la  rose  a  son  plaisir 
En  qui  estait  tout  son  desir." 

This  glimpse  of  the  treasures  of  the  Harleian  library  will  at 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     363 

least  account  for  the  great  celebrity  it  attained  within  a  compara- 
tively short  time  of  its  foundation.  Wanley  was  careful  to  enter 
into  his  Diary  the  names  of  visitors,  and  any  interesting  details 
connected  with  them,  and  their  motives  for  an  inspection.  On 
the  1 5th  January  1719/20  he  observed  : — 

"  Dr  Fiddes  came,  and  communicated  to  me  his  intention  of 
writing  the  life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  at  large  ;  and  desired  me  to 
transcribe  for  him  all  such  materials  in  this  library  as  I 
should  find  for  his  purpose.  I  showed  him  divers  things 
here,  and  gave  him  notice  of  many  others  in  the  Cottonian 
library,  etc.,  but  as  to  transcribing  for  him,  begged  his  excuse, 
etc." 

On  the  22nd  December  1721, 

"  Mr  Bowles,  the  Bodleian  library-keeper,  came,  and  I  spent 
most  of  the  time  showing  him  some  of  the  rarities  here,  to  his 
great  wonder  and  satisfaction." 

And  on  the  28th 
"  Mr  Bowles  came  and  saw  more  of  the  rarities  here." 

Two  more  visits  from  Mr  Bowles  are  chronicled,  when  he 
saw  "  yet  more  of  the  curious  books,  papers,  and  parchments 
here  "  ;  and  shortly  after  Wanley  wrote,  "  many  come  and  tarry 
long."  A  visit  from  David  Casley,  keeper  of  the  Cottonian  and 
Royal  libraries,  on  the  4th  November  1725,  is  suggestive  of  a 
certain  amount  of  friction  between  the  two  rival  librarians.  It 
is  nearly  the  last  entry  in  Wanley's  record : — 

"  Mr  Casley  came  to  collate  my  Lord's  MSS.  of  Titus  Livius 
for  Mr  D'Orville,  by  my  Lord's  order.  I  am  civil  to  him,  but 
when  just  now  he  offered  me  a  South  Sea  bond  as  security  to 
let  him  carry  one  of  the  said  MSS.  home  to  collate  it  there,  I 
would  by  no  means  hearken  to  such  a  proposal." 

Perhaps  Wanley  would  have  regarded  him  with  still  greater 
suspicion  if  he  had  known  that  Casley  was  to  be  his  successor  in 
cataloguing  the  MSS.  which  he  kept  with  so  jealous  a  care. 
The  talents  of  the  two  men  were  very  different,  as  the  catalogue 
itself  shows.  That  part  of  it  for  which  Wanley  was  responsible 


364  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

contains  a  description  and  an  abstract  of  each  manuscript. 
Casley,  whose  knowledge  of  the  age  of  manuscripts  has  never 
been  surpassed,  contented  himself  with  fixing  their  dates  without 
any  reference  to  their  contents. 

The  work  of  building  up  the  library  does  not  seem  to  have 
flagged  or  deteriorated  after  Wanley's  death.  The  search  for 
precious  MSS.  was  still  actively  carried  on,  and  copies  of  a 
large  collection  of  original,  royal,  and  other  letters  and  State 
Papers  in  the  Lansdowne  library  furnish  us  with  an  example 
of  Lord  Oxford's  unabated  zeal  in  the  pursuit  of  books. 
Appended  to  these  papers  is  a  note  written  on  the  first  leaf  by 
Mr  J.  West,  and  dated  2nd  May  1742  : — 

"  Mem.  I  went  with  Edward,  Earl  of  Oxford,  to  view  these 
MSS.  at  a  barber's  shop  next  door  to  the  Bull  Head  Tavern,  in 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  when  we  were  carried  up  two  pair  of 
stairs,  and  an  old  woman  asked  £300  for  the  MSS.,  which  was 
thought  exorbitant,  but  which  would  have  been  given,  if  she 
would  have  declared  any  lawful  title  to  us  as  owner  of 
them." 

After  Casley,  Hocker,  deputy-keeper  of  the  records  in  the 
Tower,  undertook  to  continue  the  catalogue,  but  only  completed 
it  as  far  as  the  number  7355.  When  the  collection  was  brought 
to  the  British  Museum,  after  the  death  of  the  second  Lord 
Oxford,  Dr  Brown,  Professor  of  Arabic  at  Oxford,  and  Dr 
Kennicott,  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  added  titles  to  such  of  the 
Arabic  and  Hebrew  MSS.  as  needed  them.  Gomez,  a  learned 
Jew,  was  employed  to  do  the  same  for  the  rabbinical  books  that 
were  without  titles.  In  1800  the  Rev.  Robert  Nares  was  ap- 
pointed to  continue  and  revise  the  catalogue.  In  a  letter  to 
Bishop  Percy,  dated  British  Museum,  igth  January  1801,  Nares 
wrote : — 

"  I  am  just  now  deep  in  old  MSS.,  correcting  all  that 
part  of  the  Harleian  catalogue  which  was  left  unfinished  by 
Humphrey  Wanley,  and  very  imperfectly  executed  by  Mr 
Casley." 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     365 

The  work  done  by  Nares  was  supplemented  by  Stebbing 
Shaw,  and  Douce.  The  Rev.  T.  Hartwell  Home  added  a  series 
of  indexes,  and  published  the  catalogue  in  I8I2.1 

On  the  death  of  Edward,  Earl  of  Oxford,  in  1741,  his  widow,2 
who  is  described  as  a  "dull,  worthy  woman,"  cared  to  retain 
few  of  her  husband's  treasures.  His  various  curiosities  were 
sold  by  auction ;  his  printed  books,  pamphlets,  and  engravings 
were  disposed  of  to  Thomas  Osborne,  a  bookseller  of  Gray's 
Inn,  for  .£13,000 — several  thousand  pounds  less  than  the  cost  of 
their  bindings.  A  selection  of  scarce  pamphlets  found  in  the 
library  was  made  by  Oldys,  and  printed  in  8  volumes,  in  1746, 
under  the  title  of  the  "  Harleian  Miscellany."  Dr  Samuel 
Johnson  wrote  a  preface  to  this  work.  The  best  edition  of  the 
"  Harleian  Miscellany"  is  that  of  Thomas  Park,  in  10  volumes, 
published  between  1808-13. 

There  still  remained  the  precious  manuscripts,  and  it  had 
been  the  wish  of  Lord  Oxford  that  books  so  carefully  collected 
might  not  be  dispersed.  In  accordance  with  this  wish,  Lady 
Oxford  sold  them  to  the  nation  in  1753  f°r  tne  inconsiderable 
sum  of  £10,000.  They  then  consisted  of  7639  volumes,  besides 
14,236  original  rolls,  charters,  deeds,  and  other  documents,  and 
these  were  removed  to  the  British  Museum,  where  they  found  a 
safe  and  suitable  resting-place. 

But  although  fortunately  the  Harleian  MSS.  have  been 
preserved  from  the  fate  of  so  many  choice  volumes  in  the 
Cottonian  library,  they  have  suffered  to  some  extent  from  the 
carelessness  or  dishonesty  of  borrowers.  The  second  Lord 
Oxford  was  generous  to  a  fault  in  lending,  with  the  inevitable 
result.  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu,  the  only  one  of  his 
literary  friends  whom  Lady  Oxford  tolerated,3  wrote  the  follow- 

1  Nichol's  Literary  Illustrations,  vol.  vii.,  p.  591. 

2  She   was   Lady  Henrietta  Cavendish  Holies,  only  daughter  of  John, 
fourth  Earl  of  Clare,  created  Duke  of  Newcastle. 

3  "  It  is  a  common  remark  that  people  of  brilliant  parts  often  have  no 
objection  to  relax  or  rest  their  understandings  in  the  society  of  those  whose 


366  STUDIES  FROM  COURT  AND  CLOISTER 

ing  letter  to  her  husband  from  Avignon  in  1745,  at  the  time 
when  probably,  the  MSS.  having  been  removed  to  the  British 
Museum,  attention  was  directed  to  the  fact  that  some  were 
missing : — 

"  I  perfectly  remember  carrying  back  the  manuscript  you 
mention,  and  delivering  it  to  Lord  Oxford.  I  never  failed 
returning  to  himself  all  the  books  he  lent  me.  It  is  true  I 
showed  it  to  the  Duchess  of  Montague,  but  we  read  it  together, 
and  I  did  not  even  leave  it  with  her.  I  am  not  surprised  in 
that  vast  quantity  of  manuscripts,  some  should  be  lost  or  mis- 
laid, particularly  knowing  Lord  Oxford  to  be  careless  of  them, 
easily  lending  and  as  easily  forgetting  he  had  done  it.  I  re- 
member I  carried  him  once  one  very  finely  illuminated  that 
when  I  delivered  he  did  not  recollect  he  had  lent  it  to  me, 
though  it  was  but  a  few  days  before.  Wherever  this  is,  I  think 
you  had  need  be  in  no  pain  about  it"  l 

Two  years  after  the  removal  of  the  Harleian  library  to  the 
British  Museum,  Lady  Oxford  died,  leaving  an  only  daughter, 
Margaret  Cavendish,  married  to  William  Bentinck,  second  Duke 
of  Portland.  She  was  the  "  noble,  lovely  little  Peggy  "  sung  by 
Prior.  As  she  had  inherited  none  of  her  father's  and  grand- 
intellects  are  a  little  more  obtuse.  Here  was  an  instance  :  the  gods  never 
made  anybody  less  poetical  than  Lady  Oxford  ;  and  yet  Lady  Mary  Wortley, 
though  in  general  not  over  tolerant  to  her  inferior's  incapacity,  appears  upon 
the  whole  to  have  loved  nobody  so  well.  And  there  was  an  exception 
equally  striking  in  her  favour ;  for  Lady  Oxford,  heartily  detesting  most  of 
the  wits  who  surrounded  her  husband,  yet  admired  Lady  Mary  with  all  her 
might — pretty  much  as  the  parish  clerk  reverences  the  rector  for  his  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  Lady  Bute  confessed  that  she  sometimes  got  into  sad  dis- 
grace by  exclaiming,  '  Dear  mama  !  how  can  you  be  so  fond  of  that  stupid 
woman?' which  never  failed  to  bring  upon  her  a  sharp  reprimand  and  a 
lecture  against  rash  judgments,  ending  with  '  Lady  Oxford  is  not  shining, 
but  she  has  much  more  in  her  than  such  giddy  things  as  you  and  your  com- 
panions can  discern.'" — The  Letters  and  Works  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley 
Montagu,  edited  by  her  great-grandson,  Lord  Wharncliffe,  2nd  ed.,  vol.  i., 
p.  66.  Introduction. 

1  Letters,  vol.  ii.,  p.  147. 


THE  HARLEIAN  COLLECTION  OF  MANUSCRIPTS     367 

father's  tastes,  it  was  fitting  that  the  grand  collection  of  MSS., 
for  the  sake  of  which  they  had  impoverished  themselves,  should 
enrich  an  innumerable  multitude  of  scholars  and  students  of  all 
nations  and  for  all  time. 


INDEX 


ADOLF,  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Cologne, 
in,  112,  113 

^Elfric,  the  Grammarian,  300 

^thelwald,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  296, 
297 

Agard,  Arthur,  284 

Albany,  John,  Duke  of,  Regent  of 
Scotland,  and  Protector,  7-15,  18- 
20 

Alber,  Ferdinand,  S.J.,  143 

Albert,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  118,  119,  125, 
128 

Alcantara,  St  Peter  of,  97 

Alcfrid,  208 

Alcuin,  292 

Aldhelm,  Bishop  of  Malmesbury,  292 

Aldred,  296,  297,  298 

Aleander,  papal  legate,  100 

Alfred  of  Beverley,  342 

Alfred,  King,  292 

Allen,  Lieutenant  of  Portland  Castle, 
168,  169,  173 

Alvarez,  Alphonsus,  107 

Ames,  Joseph,  341 

Anderson,  Dorothy,  daughter  and  co- 
heiress of  Edmund  Anderson,  of 
Stratton,  Bedfordshire,  303 

Anderson,  Judge,  256 

Andreas,  Jacques,  252 

Angus,  Archibald,  Earl  of,  second 
husband  of  Margaret,  Queen  of 
Scots,  7,  8,  u,  14,  15,  16,  17,  25, 
27,  28,  29,  32,  33,  34 


Anne  of  Cleves,  fourth  wife  of  Henry 

VIII.,  35-41 
her  portrait,  35 

the  political  and  religious   import- 
ance of  her  marriage,  35 
her  arrival  in  England,  38 
her  marriage  declared  null,  40 
the  king  sups  with  her  at  Richmond, 

4i 

she  visits  the  new  queen  at  Hampton 
Court,  and  dances  with  her,  44, 

45 
reports  as    to    her    restoration    to 

favour,  45,  48 
her  grief  at  the  king's  sixth  marriage, 

49 

her  friendship  with  Mary,  51 
Antonio,  a  Portuguese  Jesuit,  138,  139 
Aquaviva,  Claudius,  S.J.,  135,  140,  141, 

142,  148 

Aquinas,  St  Thomas,  101,  159,  162 
Aristotle,  159,  162,  177 
Arragon,  John  of,  107 

Katharine  of,  see  Katharine 
Arundel,  Henry  Fitzalan,  Earl  of,  294, 

318,  319,  320 
Ascham,  Roger,  264,  316 
Athanasius,    the    Melchite    Patriarch, 

320,  and  note 
Athelstan,  King,  315,  333 
Aucher,  Sir  Anthony,  316 
Augustine,  St,  185,  277,  329 
Aymon,  Jean,  359 

2  A 


370 


INDEX 


BACON,  Sir  Francis,  313,  343 
Bacon,  Roger,  311,  324 
Bader,  George,  S.J.,  143,  156 
Bagage,  Richard,  167 
Bainham,  James,  256,  257 
Baker,  Rev.  Thomas,  341,  342 
Bale,  Bishop  of  Ossory,  260,  278 
Barbara,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  one 

of  the  five  "queens,"  daughters 

of  the    Emperor    Ferdinand    I., 

149 
Barberini,  Cardinal,  nephew  of  Pope 

Urban  VIII.,  179,  180,  185,  191, 

193,  194,  195.  196,  198,  202 
letters  to,   180,   185,   191,   195,  196, 

198 

Barlow,  Dr,  307 
Barri,  Gerald  de  (Giraldus  Cambren- 

sis),  310 

Bassett,  Elizabeth,  48 
Bastwick,  John,  Puritan  pamphleteer. 

187,  1 88,  189 
Bath,  Earl  of,  77 
Beard,  Thomas,  255 
Bede,  the  Venerable,  287,   292,   297, 

342 

Bedingfeld,  Sir  Edmund,  56 
Dame    Grace,    daughter    of    Lord 
Marny,  and  wife  of  the  above,  56 
younger  sons  of  the  above — Anthony, 
56 ;  Edmund,    56,   68,    74,  77  ; 
Humphrey,  56,  74,  89 
Sir  Henry,  Lieutenant  of  the  Tower 
of  London,  etc.,  eldest  son  of 
Sir  Edmund,  52-94,  271 
Tennyson,     following     Foxe,     per- 
petuates the  libel  on  his  person, 

53 

protest  of  the  seventh  baronet,  54 
Tennyson's  reply,  55 
real  character  of  Sir  Henry,  57 
he  is  charged  with  the  custody  of 

the  Princess  Elizabeth,  61 
his  letters  from  Woodstock,  63,  64, 

66,  68,  71,  74,  75,  76,  79,  84 
letters  to  him,  58,  67,  70,  73,  81,  83, 

86,  87,  91,  92 


Bedingfeld,   Sir  Henry,  is  appointed 

Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  81 
in  Parliament  as  knight  of  the  shire 

for  Norfolk,  86 
succeeds  Sir  Henry  Jerningham  as 

Captain  of  the  Yeomen  of  the 

Guard,  86 
retires  to  Oxburgh  on  the  death  of 

Queen  Mary,  86 
receives  as  a  grant,  the  manor  of 

Caldecot,  88 
is    summoned    before     Elizabeth's 

Council    for     recusancy,     and 

fined  ^500,  90 
his     servants     dismissed     by    the 

Council  for  refusing  to   attend 

the  new  Protestant  service,  91 
his  death,  93 
Sir  Henry,  seventh  baronet,   letter 

from,  54 
letter  to,  55 
Dame  Katharine,  daughter  of  Sir 

Roger  Townshend,  wife  of  the 

Lieutenant  of  the  Tower,  56, 

57,92 

Thomas,  of  Oxburgh,  85 
Benedict,  Abbot,  342 
Bentley,  Richard,  Royal  librarian,  324, 

325,  353 
son  of  the  above,  Royal   librarian, 

3°4,  305 

Bercwald,  Abbot  of  Reculver,  293 
Bertha,  Queen,  wife  of  King  Ethelbert, 

293,  294 

Besant,  Mrs,  160 

Bignon,  Abbe",  360 

Billfrith,  monk  of  Lindisfarne,  297,  298 

Billick,  Eberhard,  Carmelite  Pro- 
vincial, 99,  102,  103,  105,  109,  in, 
112,  113 

Birch,  Mr  W.  De  Gray,  F.R.S.L., 
keeper  of  the  MSS.  in  the  British 
Museum,  293,  294 

Biron,  Marechal  de,  176 

Blume,  Dr  Friedrich,  210 

Blyssem,  Henry,  S.J.,  139,  140,  141,  142 

Bobadilla,  Nicholas,  S.J.,  116 


INDEX 


371 


Bodley,  Sir  Thomas,  279,  280,  319 
Boleyn,  Anne,  second  wife  of  Henry 

VIII.,  38 

Bolton,  Edmund,  281,  282 
Bond,  Mr,  294 
Boniface,  St,  296 
Bonner,  Edmund,  Bishop  of  London, 

264,  267,  268,  269,  270,  271 
Borgia  (Borja),   St   Francis,  97,  149, 

150,  151,  152,  153 
Rodrigo,  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  96 
Borough,     Lord,     of    Gainsborough, 

49 

Borromeo,  St  Charles,  96 
Bossuet,  97 

Boswell,  Sir  William,  194 
Boteler,  Lord,  193 
Bourdaloue,  97 
Bowles,  Mr,  librarian  of  the  Bodleian, 

363 

Bowyer,  Robert,  299 
Boyle,  Charles,  325 
Brandon,  Charles,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  56 
Bridges,  John,  359 
Brocas,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Sir  Robert 

Cotton,  288  note 
Brooke,  Mr  Stopford,  212 
Browne,   Dr,   Professor  of  Arabic  at 

Oxford,  364 

Bruno,  Giordano,  158-163 
Bruno,  St,  107 
Bucer,  Martin,  104,  105,  316 
Biichels,   librarian   to  the  Elector  of 

Bavaria,  354 

Buckhurst,  Lord  Treasurer,  173 
Buckingham,  Duke  of,  183,  307 
Bullinger,  Henry,  Protestant  reformer, 

5° 

Bulmer,  Sir  John,  20 
Burnet,  Gilbert,  53 
Burnett,  Mr,  bookseller,  287 
Bu-Pis,  Mr,  353 

QEDMON,  211,  213,  219,  291 
Cajetan,  Cardinal,  116 
Calasanctius,  St  Joseph,  97 
Calvin,  John,  185 


Camden,  William,  archaeologist,  220, 

221,  281,  283,  335 
Campion,  Edmund,  S.J.,  343 
Canisius,   Peter,  S.J.,    106,    107,   108, 

in,  112-130,  137,  143,  150,    151, 

152,  153 
his  youth,  106 

he  enters  the  Society  of  Jesus,  107 
at  the  Council  of  Trent,  113 
at  Rome,  1 14 
is  sent  to  Messina,  115 
the  apostle  of  Germany,  116-130 
Cantely,  John,  27 
Canute,  King,  329 
Capistran,  St  John,  95 
Carew,  George,   afterwards    Earl    of 

Totness,  281 
Carew,  Sir  Peter,  50,  81 
Carlisle,  Earl  of,  186 
Casley,    David,     deputy,     afterwards 
sole,  custodian  of  the  Royal  and 
Cottonian  libraries,  304,  305,  325, 

363,  364 

Cattley,  Rev.  S.  R.,  275 

Cavendish,  Margaret,  wife  of  the 
second  Duke  of  Portland,  366 

Caxton,  William,  224 

Cecil,  Sir  Robert,  176 

Chandos,  Lord,  62 

Chapman,  Christopher,  340 

Chapuys,  Eustace,  imperial  ambas- 
sador, 44,  45,  46,  47,  49 

Charles,  Archduke  of  Austria,  139,  148 

Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  36, 
37,  64,  103,  104,  108,  109,  1 10,  in, 
112,  126,  128,  136,  266 

Charles  I.,  King  of  England,  178-203, 

319 
Charles  II.,  King  of  England,  323,  324, 

336 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  223 
Cheke,  Sir  John,  81,  316 

letters  to,  81,  82 
Clark,  Mr  A.  C.,  354,  35^ 
Clement,   Monsieur,   sub-librarian   of 

the    Bibliothique   Royale,    Paris, 

359,  36o 


372 


INDEX 


Cleves,  Anne,  see  Anne  of  Cleves 

Duke  of,  36,  39,40  41,  103 
Cobet,  321 
Cochlasus,  116 

Coke,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  174 
Coldstream,  Abbess  of,  16,  20 
Colet,  John,  158 
Collins,    author    of   the    Baronetage, 

283 

Collins,  a  madman,  261 
Comara,  F.,  Luis  Gonzalez  de,  133 
Conn,    George,   papal  agent    at    the 

court    of   Henrietta    Maria,    178, 

192,  193,  194 
Conybeare,  290,  291 
Cook,  Mr,  A.  S.,  212,  213,  214 
Cope,  Alan  (Nicholas  Harpsfield),  253 
Copland,  William,  224 
Cornwallis,    gentleman-usher   to    the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  66 

Sir  Thomas,  60 
Cotton,  Sir  John,  303,  306,  307 

Sir  Robert,  founder  of  the  Cottonian 
library,  277-308,  335,  338,  340 

Thomas,  brother  of  the  above,  288 
Cowbridge,  261 
Cranmer,     Thomas,     Archbishop    of 

Canterbury,  49>  3l8,  319 
Crashaw,  Richard,  the  poet,  281 
Crespin,  251 

Cromwell,  Thomas,  3,  4,  35-40 
Crouch,  Mr  Gilbert,  307 
Cuperus,  Martin,  98 
Cuthbert,  St,  219,  292,  296,  297,  298, 

299,  301,  342 
Cynewulf,  211,  212,  213,  219,  221 

DACRE,  Lord,  9,  10,  11,  13,  15,  16,  18, 

25,26 

Darwin,  Professor,  161 
Davis,  John,  168 
Davis,  Sir  John,  282 
Defoe,  Daniel,  341 
Deighton,  264 

Delphin,  apostolic  nuncio,  143 
Derby,  Earl  of,  62 
Dering,  Sir  Edward,  letter  from,  288 


Deuch,  John,  173 

D'Ewes,  Sir  Symonds,  antiquary,  335, 

338,  339 

Deye,  William,  letter  from,  86 
Dirsius,  John,  S.J.,  149,  151 
Disraeli,  Isaac,  285,  289 
Dodderidge,  Sir  John,  281 
Dorset,  Marquis  of,  16 
Dorset,  Earl  of,  289 
D'Orville,  Mr,  363 
Douglas,  the  Lady  Margaret,  daughter 

of  the  Queen  of  Scots,  1 1,  12,  29, 

34 

Duchesne,  295 
Dudley,  Sir  Robert,  290 
Dugdale,  278,  307 
Duncan,  Dr,  218 
Duns  Scotus,  316 
Dunstan,  St,  292 
Dyer,  162 

EADFRITH,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  296, 

297 

Eck,  Johann,  of  Ingolstadt,  116 
Edward  L,  King  of  England,  311 
Edward  II.,  King  of  England,  311 
Edward  IV.,  King  of  England,  56,  224, 

3^2,  313 
Edward  VI.,   King    of  England,   46, 

316 

Edwin,  King  of  Northumbria,  207 
Elizabeth,  Princess,  afterwards  Queen 
of  England,  49,  51,  52,  53,  54,  57- 
63,65-81,  87-90,  161,  310,316 
is  sent  to  the  Tower  for  implication 

in  Wyatt's  rebellion,  58 
the  case  against  her,  59 
her  journey  from  Ashridge  to  the 

court,  60 
Sir   H.   Bedingfeld   appointed    her 

custodian,  61 
her  removal   from    the    Tower    to 

Woodstock,  62 
her  treatment  and  behaviour  as  a 

prisoner,  63-81 

retires  to  Hatfield  till  her  accession, 
81 


INDEX 


373 


Elizabeth,  Princess,  her  letter  to  Sir 

Henry  Bedingfeld,  87 
grants  him  the  manor  of  Caldecot, 

88 

her  progress  into  Norfolk,  88 
Elizabeth  of  York,   Queen  of  Henry 

VII.,  89  note 
Elliott,  Thomas,  340,  350 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  96,  100,  101, 

102,  105,  158 
Erskine,  Lord,  30 
Essex,  Earl  of,  173 

Eyre,  Dr,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow, 
299 

FABER,  Peter,  S.J.,  106,  107,  116 

Feckenham,  Sir  John,  Abbot  of  West- 
minster, letter  from,  82 

Ferdinand,  King  of  the  Romans,  118, 
119,  125 

Ferdinand  I.,  Emperor,  136,  148,  149 

Ferdinand,  Archduke  of  Austria,  after- 
wards Emperor  Ferdinand  II., 
147,  148,  149,  154 

Fiddes,  Dr,  363 

Fitzjames,  Mr  John,  170,  172 

Florence  of  Worcester,  342 

Flower,  261 

Foley,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Foley  of  Whitley  Court,  first  wife 
of  Robert,  Lord  Oxford,  336 

Fordun,  John,  343 

Foxe,  John,  the  martyrologist,  60,  61, 
62,  250-276 

Francis  I.,  King  of  France,  36,  37,  46, 
47 

Franconitz,  Matthias  Flach-  (Flacius 
Illyricus),  251,  252 

Frith,  John,  258,  265 

Frith,  Mr,  1 60 

GAGE,   Sir  John,  Lord  Chamberlain, 

64,  65,  67,  69 

Gairdner,  Mr  James,  273,  274 
Gardiner,   Stephen,   Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, Lord  Chancellor,  77,  264, 
265,  266,  267,  270 


Gardiner,  William,  262 

Geiler,   Johannes,  Catholic   reformer, 

95,96 
George,  Prince  of  Austria,  Bishop  of 

Liege,  112 
George  II.,  King  of  England,  yz^and 

note 

George  III.,  King  of  England,  308 
George  IV.,  King  of  England,  308 
Gerard,  Rev.  John,  S.J.,  273 
Gibson,  Bishop,  210 
Gildas,  342 
Goethe,  161 
Gomez,  364 

Gondomar,  Spanish  ambassador,  280 
Goudan,  S.J.,  143 
Gough,  251 

Graevius,  Johann,  353,354,  355,  357,  35& 
Grafton,  continuer  of  Hall's  Chronicle, 

260 

Gray,  Lady,  66 
Greville,  Sir  Fulke,  162 
Grim,  Charles,  S.J.,  148 
Grimm,  291 
Grimwood,  256 
Grindal,   Archbishop   of   Canterbury, 

184,  252,  253 
Cropper,     Johann,      Archdeacon     of 

Cologne,  no,  m,  116,  127 
Guest,  Lady  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  230 

HABERNFELD,  Andreas  ab,  194 
Haeckel,  Professor,  161 
Haigh,  Dr,  208,  209,  212,  220 
Hall,  chronicler,  260 
Haller,  Richard,  S.J.,  145,  146 
Hancock,  Rev.  John,  167 
Harcourt,  Lord,  336 
Hardy,  Sir  Thomas,  292,  293 
Harley,  Sir  Edward,  second  Earl  of 
Oxford  and  Mortimer,  336,  341, 
342,  344,  348,  349,  350,  352,  354, 

357,  360,  363,  364,  365 
Sir    Robert,    first    Earl     of  Oxford 
and  Mortimer,  founder  of  the 
Harleian  library,  335,  336,  338, 
339,  340,  34i 


374 


INDEX 


Harriot  or  Herryott,  Thomas,  167,  174 

Hastings,  Sir  Edward,  60 

Hawley,  Francis,  Esq.,  167 

Hay,  Mr  Andrew,  344,  348 

Hay,  Edmund,  S.J.,  149 

Hearne,  307 

Helena,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  one 

of  the  five  "  queens,"  daughters  of 

the  Emperor  Ferdinand  I.,  149 
Hennell,  Sir  Reginald,  53 
Henrietta  Maria,  wife  of  Charles  I., 

178,  179,  180,  181,  182,  192,  195, 

197 

Henry  II.,  310 
Henry  III.,  311 
Henry  VII.,  56,  89  note 
Henry  VIII.,  4,  6,  8,  9,  10,  13,  14,  16, 

17,  18,  19,  20,  22,  23,  24,  26-35,  Si, 

56,  101,  200,  293,  306,  314,  3IS 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  317,  318 

Hepburn,  John,  Prior  of  St  Andrews,  8 

Hentzner,  Paul,  316 

Hertford,  Countess  of,  44 

Heydon,  Sir  Christopher,  88 

Hezcovaus,  S.J.,  156 

Hilda,  St,  219 

Hocker,  deputy-keeper  of  the  records, 

364 

Hoffaus,  Paul,  S.J.,  154,  156 
Holinshed,  260 
Holmes,  Mr  John,  298 
Home,  John  alias  Edward,  264 
Home,  Rev.  T.  Hartwell,  365 
Horsey,  Sir  Ralph,  167,  170 
Howard,     Katharine,     fifth     wife    of 

Henry  VIII.,  38,  42-48 
Howard,  Thomas,  Viscount,  of  Bindon, 

167 

Lord  William,  31,  44,  60 
Mr,  of  Corby  Castle,  220 
Huick,  Dr,  80 
Humphrey,  Duke,  279 
Huntley,  Earl  of,  26 
Hussey,  William,  168 
Hyde,  Sir  Nicholas,  Chief  Justice  of 

the  King's  Bench,  285 
Hyde,  Robert,  172 


IGNATIUS,    St,    of   Loyola,    97,    113, 

114,  115,  116,  118-123,  133,  135, 

150 
Incent,     Dr,     Dean    of    St     Paul's, 

260 

Ingulf,  278 
Ireton,  General,  323 
Ironside,    Ralph,    168,  169,    170,  171, 

172 
Isenburg,  Johann  von,  112 

JAMES  I.,  King  of  England,  173,  176, 
199,  283,  285,  310,  317,  319, 
320 

James  IV.  of  Scotland,  5,  6,  7,  10,  n, 

12,  17,  3i 

James  V.  of  Scotland,  6,  7,  10,  u,  12, 
19,  24,  25,  28,  30,  31,  32,  33,  34, 

45 
James,  Francis,  Chancellor  of  Dorset, 

167 
Thomas,  librarian  of  the  Bodleian, 

306 

JeflTeries,  Nicholas,  169 
Jerningham,  Sir  Henry,  52,  85,  86 
Henry,  son  of  the  above,  90 
John  of  Somerleyton,  85 
Jerome,  St,  328 
Jesopp,  Rev.  John,  167,  168 
Jessopp,  Dr,  89,  90  note 
Johanna,  Archduchess  of  Austria,  one 
of  the   five  "queens,"  daughters 
of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  I.,  149 
Johann  Wilhelm,  Elector  of  Bavaria, 

353,  358 

John,  St,  of  the  Cross,  97 
John,  St,  of  God,  97 
John,  King  of  England,  311 
John  III.,  King  of  Portugal,  133 
Johnson,  Dr  Samuel,  365 
Josceline,  282 
Jovius,  Paulus,  282 

KATHARINE  of  Arragon,  first  wife  of 

Henry  VIII.,  35,  38,  56,  314 
Kemble,  210,  211,  213,  216,  291 


375 


Kennicott,  Dr,  364 
Kenyon,  Mr  F.  G.,  364 

LACORDAIRE,  Henri  Dominique,  131, 

137,  157 
Lainez,  James,  S.J.,  116,  117,  124,  126, 

127 

Landseck,  161 

Lanoy,  Nicholas,  S.J.,  143,  152 
Latimer,  Bishop,  265 

Lord,  49,  50 
Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  183, 

184,  185,  187,  189,  190,  191,  194, 

195,  196,  197,  273 
Leach,  Thomas,  251 
Le  Bias,  Bertrand,  263 
Lee,  Mr  Sidney,  251 

William,  343 
Lefevre,  S.J.,  116 
Le  Jay,  S.J.,  113,  116,  117 
Leland,  278 
Le  Roy,  Mr,  354 
Lessing,  161 

Lewkner,  Edward,  83,  84 
Lingard,  Dr,  269 
Littledale,  Dr,  271  note 
Lothair,  King  of  Kent,  293 
Louis  XII.,  King  of  France,  7 
Lucar,  Cyril,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, 319,  321 
Lugge,  J°nn>  *76 
Lucius,  British  chief,  224 
Lumley,      John,      Lord,     318,      319, 

329 

Luther,  Martin,  96,  100,  105 
Lyn,  Tilmann,  100 

MACAULAY,  Lord,  272,  340 
M'Caul,  Mr  J.  M.,  211  note 
Machyn,  261 
Madden,  Sir  Frederick,  keeper  of  the 

MSS.   in    the    British    Museum, 

280,  305 
Magdalene,   daughter  of  Francis   I., 

King    of    France,    first    wife     of 

James  V.  of  Scotland,  33 


Magdalene,  Archduchess  of  Austria, 
one  of  the  five  "queens," 
daughters  of  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  I.,  149-156 

Maggio,  Laurentius,  S.J.,  137,  138, 
140,  142,  143 

Magnusen,  2 1 1  note 

Maitland,  Dr  S.  R.,  270,  275 

Malet,  Sir  Francis,  letter  from,  83 

Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  223,  226,  229, 
230,  231,  242,  248 

Maltby,  Dr,  Bishop  of  Durham,  298 

Map,  Walter  de,  310 

Marbery,  Elizabeth,  65,  66,  67,  68, 
69 

Margaret,  Archduchess  of  Austria, 
one  of  the  five  "queens," 
daughters  of  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  I.,  149 

Marie  de  Medicis,  mother  of  Henrietta 
Maria,  202 

Marillac,  Monsieur  de,  French 
ambassador,  41,  42,  43 

Mark,  van  der,  359 

Mary,  Princess,  daughter  of  Henry 
VIII.,  afterwards  Queen  of 
England,  36,  38,  44,  45,  49,  50,  51, 
52,  57-61,  63,  64,  66,  67,  69-86,  90, 
254,  274,  3i6,  332,  333 
letters  from,  67,  70,  73,  81 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  89,  283,  284, 
285,  344 

Masham,  W.,  173 

Mattaire,  Mr,  355 

Maughan,  Rev.  John,  220 

Maximilian,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  353 
Emperor,  136,  137 

Melancthon,  Philip,  the  Protestant 
reformer,  43,  104,  128 

Merbeck,  John,  254 

Mercurian,  Everard,  S.J.,  138,  143 

Middleton,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Simon 
Middleton  of  Hurst  Hill,  Edmon- 
ton, second  wife  of  Robert,  Earl 
of  Oxford,  336 

Milan,  Duchess  of,  38 

Modius  of  Cologne,  358 


376 


INDEX 


Montagu,   Lady    Mary  Wortley,  365, 

366 

Montague,  Duchess  of,  366 
Montmorency,  Due  de,  42 
More,    Sir   Thomas,    256,    257,   258, 

259 
Morgan,  Henry,  Bishop  of  St  David's, 

254,  255 

Morice,  William,  318 
Morin,  Dom  Germain,  297 
Morton,  Mrs,  78 
Murray  of  Cockpool,  218 

NARES,  Rev.  Robert,  364,  365 

Nelson,  Robert,  337,  338 

Neri,  St  Philip,  96 

Neuenar,  Count  William  of,  103 

Newport,  Lady,  193 

Nicholson,  John,  burned  at  Smithfield 
in  1540,  37 

Noailles,  Monsieur  de,  French  ambas- 
sador, 59,  60,  70 

Noel,  282 

Norfolk,  Duke  of,  265,  266 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  265 

I 

OLDYS,  341 
Oliver,  S.J.,  143 

Osborne,  Thomas,  bookseller,  365 
Owen,  Dr,  80 
Oxford,  Lady,  365,  366 

PACKINGTON,  Robert,  260 

Palgrave,  Sir  Francis,  312 

Palmer,  Samuel,  341 

Panzani,  Gregorio,  papal  agent  at  the 

court  of  Henrietta  Maria,  178-183, 

185,  186,  191,  192 
letters  from,  180,  185,  186,  191 
Paris,  Matthew,  279,  283,  316 
Park,  Thomas,  editor  of  the  "  Harleian 

Miscellany,"  365 
Parr,  Katharine,  sixth  wife  of  Henry 

VIII.,  49,  50,  51 
Lord,  50 
Parry,  the  Princess  Elizabeth's  cofferer, 

68,  76,  78 


Parry,  a  recusant,  confined  in  Norwich 

jail,  89 
Mr,  1 68 
Parsons  or  Persons,  Robert,  S.J.,  164, 

165,  253,  261 
Pennant,  218,  219 
Percy,  Bishop,  364 
Pessel,  Johann,  109 
Peters,  Hugh,  custodian  of  the  Royal 

library,  323 
Philip,    Landgrave    of    Hessen,    104, 

109 

Philip,  Father,  an  English  Capuchin, 
confessor  to  Henrietta  Maria,  18, 
182,  183,  186,  192,  201,  202 
Philippa  of  Hainault,  362 
Philippine  of  Guelderland,  106 
Planta,  30 
Plato,  161 
Plotinus,  161 

Plowden,  Rev.  Charles,  178 
Pope,  Alexander,  341 
Pope  Alexander  VI.,  96 
Clement  VII.,  98 
Eleutherius,  225 
Eugenius  IV.,  97 
Julius  III.,  118,  119,  120 
Paul  III.,  106,  in 
St  Gregory,  297,  300,  329 
Urban  VI 11.,  179 

Pope,   Sir  Thomas,   successor  to  Sir 
Henry  Bedingfeld  as  custodian  of 
the  Princess  Elizabeth,  81 
Portia,  Bishop,  papal  nuncio,  143 
Pratt,  Rev.  Josiah,  275 
Prideaux,  Dr,  307 
Prior,  Matthew,  342,  366 
Prynne,  William,  Puritan,  barrister-at- 
law  and   pamphleteer,    184,    187, 
1 88,  189,  190,  194,  203 
Pythagoras,  159,  161 

RAINE,  Rev.  — ,  299 

Raleigh,    Sir   Walter,    163,    164,    165, 

167-172,  174,  175,  176,  317 
Carew,  brother  of  the  above,   168, 
169,  170,  176 


INDEX 


377 


Rattsay,  Jane,  48 

Reinel,  John,  S.J.,  140,  141,  143 

Rene,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  106 

Repp,  Mr,  211  note 

Ridder,  Monsieur  de,  295 

Ridley,  Bishop,  265 

Richard  II.,  King  of  England,  56 

Richard  III.,  King  of  England,  56 

Ringuarda,  Bishop,  papal  legate,  140 

Rochester,  Sir  Robert,  letter  from, 
81 

Roe,  Sir  Thomas,  British  ambassador 
at  Constantinople,  175,  320 

Rookwood,  Mr,  of  Euston  Hall,  prose- 
cuted for  recusancy,  89 

Rosetti,  Count  Carlo,  papal  agent  at 
the  court  of  Henrietta  Maria, 
195,  201 

letters  from,  195,  196,  198,  199,  201, 
202 

Rosse,  Thomas,  Royal  librarian,  323 

Rothesay,  Duke  of,  7,  10,  11,  12 

SALMERON,  S.J.,  116,  117 
Sands,  Elizabeth,  65,  67,  68,  69 
Saunder,  Nicholas,  286 
Savonarola,  Fra  Girolamo,  96 
Saxo,  John,  S.J.,  141,  142,  145 
Scarlett,  Rev.  Francis,  172 
Schauenburg,    Adolf  von,  Coadjutor 

Bishop  of  Cologne,  in,  112,  113 
Scherer,  George,  S.J.,  143 
Scrivener,  328 

Scholl,  Vicar-General  of  Mainz,  112 
Scott,   Robert,   a   famous   bookseller, 

324 

Scudamore,  John,  286 
Seckford,  Henry,  91,  92 
Segar,  259 

Selden,  281,  307,  323 
Seripandus,  359 
Seymour,  Jane,  third  wife  of  Henry 

VIII.,  36 
Sir  Thomas,  Lord  High   Admiral, 

49,  5i 

Shakespeare,  223 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  162,  163 


Simeon  of  Durham,  298 
Sinclair,  Sir  John,  217 
Sleuther,  Sir  John,  261 
Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  308 
Smith,  Baldwin,  333 

Dr    Thomas,   294,    295,    303,    304, 

337 

Soreth,  John,  Carmelite  General,  97 
Spain,  the  Infante  of,  173 
Speed,  281,  282 
Spenser,  Edmund,  162 
Sper,  a  Bavarian  agent,  146 
Stafford,  Countess  of,  307 
Stella  Matutina,  a  famous  Greek,  320 
Stephens,  Professor  George,  211,  216, 

217,  291 

Stevenson,  Rev.  Joseph,  301 
Stoughton,  Dr,  275 
Stow,  historian  of  London,  335 
Strype,  the  annalist,  53,  250,  336 
Stuart,  Dr  John,  209 
John,  Earl  of  Arran,  fourth  husband 

of  Margaret,  Queen  of  Scots,  34 
Harry,  Lord  Methven,  third  husband 

of  Margaret,  Queen   of  Scots, 

29>  3°,  32,  33 
Suffolk,  Duchess  of,  44 
Sunderland,  Earl  of,  348 
Surrey,  Earl  of,  18,  24 
Sweet,  2ii 
Swift,  Jonathan,  336,  341 

TALBOT,  Master,  of  Norwich,  294 

Talbot,  Mary,  294 

Tanner,  Bishop,  278 

Tecla,  St,  320,  321,  322 

Temple,  162 

Tennyson,  Alfred  Lord,  Poet  Laureate, 

53,  223,  225,  226,  227,  228,   230, 

231,  238,  239,  242 
letter  to,  54 
letter  from,  55 
Teresa,  St,  97,  98 
Tewkesbury,  John,  256,  257,  259 
Thane,  Lord,  62 
Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

277,  297 


378 


INDEX 


Theodoric  of  Gouda,  98,  99 

Theyer,  John,  324,  330 

Thinn,  Mr,  of  Wiltshire,  168 

Thirlby,  Bishop  of  Ely,  letter  to,  76 

Thompson,  Sir  Edward  Maunde,  293, 
295,  297,  321,  330,  331,  350,  35i, 
358 

Thorkelin,  290,  291 

Thorpe,  Benjamin,  211,  291 

Tindal,  John,  259 

Tischendorf,  328 

Tomio  or  Tomeyow,  Mr,  71  ;  Mrs, 
78,  80 — attendants  on  the  Prin- 
cess Elizabeth  at  Woodstock 

Topclyffe,  the  spy,  343 

Torsler,  Emerich,  S.J.,  140 

Townsend,  Prebendary,  275 

Tregelles,  321 

Trenchard,  Sir  George,  168,  169 

Trevor,  Lord,  337 

Truchsess,   Cardinal   Otto,    113,    125, 

134 

Tudor,  Margaret,  3-34 
her  character,  4,  5 
her  marriage  to  James  IV.  of  Scot- 
land, 4 

becomes  a  widow,  6 
her  "conjunct  feoffment,"  6,  14,  15, 

23,  3»4 

convenes  a  parliament,  6 
gives  birth  to  a  posthumous  son,  7 
her  marriage  to  the  Earl  of  Angus,  7 
fortifies  herself  in   Stirling   Castle, 

and  invites  the  king  of  England 

to  invade  Scotland,  8 
delivers  her  children  into  the  Duke 

of  Albany's  hands,  10 
escapes  into    England,   and   gives 

birth  to  a  daughter  at  Harbottle, 

II 
takes  refuge  at  the  English  court, 

12 

tries  to  lure  Albany  into  a  trap,  13 
returns  to  Scotland,  14 
stirs    up    strife    between    the    two 

countries,  16,  17 
her  double  dealing,  18,  19,  20,  24,  25 


Tudor,  Margaret,  obtains  a  decree  of 
invalidity  against  her  second  mar- 
riage, 29 
contracts  a   secret    marriage    with 

Harry  Stuart,  29,  30 
divorces  Lord  Methven,  33 
marries  John  Stuart,  34 
her  penitent  end,  34 
Tudor,    Mary,    younger    daughter  of 
Henry    VII.,     married     to     the 
King  of  France,  7 
Turgot,  298 
Turner,  291 

UFFENBACH,  a  German  scholar,  353, 

354 
Ussher,  James,  Archbishop  of  Armagh, 

286,  287 
letter  from,  287 

VAILLANT,   Mr,    a    bookseller,    349, 

350 

Vanlore,  Sir  Peter,  287 
Verallo,  papal  nuncio,  1 10,  1 1 1 
Verney,  Francis,  one  of  the  servants 

of    the     Princess     Elizabeth    at 

Woodstock,  78 
Viller,  Bartholomew,  S.J.,  142,  144, 145, 

146,  147,  148 
Vincent  of  Paul,  St,  97 

WALSINGHAM,  Sir  Francis,  343 

Wanley,  Humphrey,  librarian  to 
Lord  Oxford,  and  custodian  of 
the  Harl.  MSS.,  290,  309,  329, 
337,  338,  340,  342,  343,  344,  348- 
36o,  363,  364 

Ware,  Sir  James,  286 

Waring,  Mr,  296 

Warton,  Dr  Joseph,  162 

Waters,  Thomas,  letter  from,  58 

West,  Mr,  364 

Westwood,  297,  300,  329 

Whitelocke,  Bulstrode,  Royal  librarian, 

323 
Widdowes,  Giles,  188 


INDEX 


379 


Wied,  Hermann  von,  Archbishop  and 

Elector  of  Cologne,  103,  104,  108, 

109,  no,  in,  113 

Wilfrid,  St,  Archbishop  of  York,  287 
William   IV.,  Duke  of  Bavaria,    116, 

117,  118,  147 

William  of  Malmesbury,  287,  310 
Williams,  John,  Esq.,  167 
Windebank,  Secretary  of  State  in  the 

reign  of  Charles  I.,  181,  195,  198, 

200,  20 1 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  3,  13,  14,  15 
Wood,  Anthony  k,  254,  255,  342 
Worde,  Wynkyn  de,  224 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  304 
Wright,  Edward,  mathematician,  318 


Wriothesley,  50,  261 
Wyatt,  Sir  Thomas,  52,  58,  59,  60 
Wyndham,  Edmund,  90 
Wyndham,  Sir  Edward,  88 

XAVIER,  St  Francis,  S.J.,  97,  106 
Ximenez,  Peter,  S.J.,  145 
Ximenez,     Rodrigo,     Archbishop    of 
Toledo,  312 

YOUNG,  Patrick,  Royal  librarian,  318, 
322,  323 

ZAMBONI,  Signer,  354,  355,  356,  357 
Zingerling,  Johann,  319 


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The    Extinction  of  the    Ancient 
Hierarchy 

By  the   Rev.   G.   E.   PHILLIPS 

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AN  Account  of  the  Death  in  Prison  of  the  Eleven  Bishops  known  at 
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Fra  Girolamo   Savonarola 

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at    Louvain,    1548-1625 

(Now  St  Augustine's  Priory,  at  Newton  Abbot,  in  Devon) 
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LIFE     AND     LAST     LEAVES 

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Uniform  in  size  with  the  "  Falstaff  Shakespeare." 
THE    LIFE    OF 

SAMUEL  JOHNSON,  LL.D. 


AND 


THE  JOURNAL  OF  A  TOUR  TO  THE  HEBRIDES 
By  JAMES   BOSWELL,    Esq. 

Edited,  with  Notes  and  a  Biographical  Dictionary  of  the 
persons  named  in  the  work, 

BY 
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This  Edition  is  a  reprint  of  the  Sixth  Edition,  being  the  last  that  contains 
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"BOSWELL'S  LIFE  OF  JOHNSON"  is  a  work  .that  has  become  so 
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